The Rest of Your Life
by fiona249
Summary: It's nearly seventy years since everything went wrong with Lauren and Bo hasn't seen her since. But Bo still can't put it behind her - even though she's supposed to marry Dyson soon. As it turns out, when disaster strikes it could be the best thing that's happened in a long time, and the chance for Bo to finally make things right and fix two broken hearts. Doccubus.
1. Prologue

PROLOGUE

To a watcher unfamiliar with the people involved, it would have seemed like a very strange wedding.

For one thing, the seating wasn't split into two sides for the bride's guests and groom's guests, but instead three sets of chairs were set out in the forest clearing. The people in the first set were ordinary enough, though instead of the usual pleasure found in the faces of wedding guests they seemed fearful and cautious, glancing frequently at the guests in the other two sections. There were about twelve of them, wearing colourful, elegant clothes, the sort of thing anyone normal wore to a wedding. The guests in the second section, by comparison, seemed genuinely happy if somewhat obnoxious, and were dressed in odd, old-fashioned outfits. They appeared to be pretending that no guests besides themselves existed. In contrast, the third section seemed determined that none of the other guests would ignore them. There were only about ten of them, dressed in dark, slinky outfits, and whenever the other guests looked their way they would snigger or hiss. The first section – humans – reacted with fear, the second section only with disdain.

However, the woman hiding under the tree was very familiar with the people involved. At least with the wedding party, and with some of the people in the second section. She'd cured their illnesses, once, and bandaged their injuries, known their names and troubles, and also known their powers and species types and individual attitude towards her – which was, in most cases, the disdain they were showing to everyone else now.

The woman under the tree was the second thing a watcher would have found curious. She wore black, as if it were a funeral and not a wedding, which made her pale skin almost glow in comparison. She leant heavily on a walking stick, and her brown eyes were troubled and full of tears. As the bride appeared from the dense forest, the tears spilled over until she was sobbing in earnest.

She wasn't the only one crying – the bride was also in tears, even though she was smiling. While it isn't unusual for a bride to cry at her wedding, she was crying hard enough that several people, including the groom, appeared concerned. The bride was stunning despite her tears – beautiful, and young enough that most people thought she was in her twenties. And she was, but she had been in her twenties for a very long time. Decades, in fact.

As she passed the sobbing woman, the bride looked at her. It was a look full of meaning, a message. And if that wasn't enough, her lips shaped words. _I am doing this because of you._ The woman sobbed even harder, unable to say anything back.

The priest, apparently seeing nothing unusual about the wedding, began to perform the ceremony. The bride waited, listening for the right time, the right words.

"I do."

And she looked out to the crying woman and smiled.


	2. Chapter 1

CHAPTER 1

"_Bo," Lauren's smile was bright, but her eyes were troubled. "Listen, it's good you're here. I've been running the lab for the past few days, we have a lot of injuries. Something's brewing. The Light Fae are beginning to panic -"_

"_That's not why I'm here," Bo said. Her palms were sweaty, and she realised with a start she was close to tears. Goddammit, why did this have to happen to her? How could she even think about doing this? "We need to talk."_

"_I thought we were. Talking." Lauren's smile faded somewhat and the space between her brows started to crease. "The death of another Ash, the fear that there might be more Garuda… the Light Fae can't handle this, the whole system's beginning to break down. Bo, this is serious."_

"_So is this. Dyson got his love back."_

"_Oh." Lauren's smile disappeared totally._

"_Lauren, you know how I feel about you -"_

"_Do I?" Lauren busied her hands cleaning up medical equipment. "How do you feel about me, Bo?"_

_Bo looked away. "Don't play games."_

"_None of this has ever been a game for me."_

"_Dyson's a wolf, he only gets one mate," Bo said it simply. "And that's me. What am I supposed to do? Tell him he has to be alone forever?"_

_Lauren closed her eyes momentarily. "So you've made your decision."_

"_No! No, please, don't look so hurt. I haven't – I still – I wish – I just don't have any choice right now. But, you know, if things don't work out with Dyson and me -"_

_Lauren laughed harshly, shocking Bo. Normally Lauren was so calm and collected Bo forgot that she had feelings every bit as strong as the moody, tantrum-throwing Dyson. She just didn't wear them on her sleeve, advertising them all the time as if they were the only important thing. "If things don't work out? So good to know that I'm second in the line."_

"_I don't have a choice right now," Bo repeated desperately._

"_Yes, you do. You're choosing between Dyson and I, you could choose me if you wanted to. If you cared about me as much as you claim to. You have a choice."_

"_Like you had a choice between me and Nadia?" It was a cruel question._

"_I _loved _Nadia," Lauren hissed._

_Bo felt a pang of jealousy so fierce it scorched her. "Well, I love Dyson." Was it true? Maybe. If Bo was honest with herself, the first thing she'd felt when she heard that Dyson loved her wasn't joy, but horror. Because it meant she had to make a choice. But Dyson loved her and he could never love anyone else. Imagining him alone for the rest of their long, long lives… how could she do that? "But you know I… care about you, a lot."_

_Lauren gripped the counter tightly, trying to control her rage and hurt. She didn't want to feel the anger, but it was there, anyway. Bo had promised her that this was about them, not about Dyson. She had promised her that the thing with Dyson was over, was done. Lauren had honestly believed that Bo cared about her enough that she would at least pause and consider before she ran back to the petty, jealous wolf-man._

_And that comment? _If things don't work out…_ as if Lauren would stand around and wait patiently for Dyson to screw up again. And she probably would, for Bo. After all, it was what she'd done last time. One little screw-up, obeying orders she'd had no choice but to obey as a slave, one lie, and Lauren had gotten to watch Bo and Dyson play out in front of her eyes. And when Bo had found out Dyson had lied to her, she'd forgiven him near-instantly. When he'd made a fool's bargain with the Norn Bo had rushed to try and get him back, fix him, make it right. Because Dyson was like that – he got Bo's forgiveness, her effort, her love. Lauren just got to be a human doormat._

"_You are so full of it," Lauren said quietly, without thinking._

_Bo was blindsided by the fury in Lauren's eyes and voice. "What?"_

"_You talk about how badly I'm treated by the Fae," Lauren enunciated slowly. "How nobody owns me, how nobody can order me around. How they shouldn't use me. But at least they're honest about it. You're not."_

"_What?!"_

"_You come in here day after day," Lauren continued smoothly. "You want answers, you want help, you want comfort… you always want something. Even when you're not talking to me you still think you have the right to ask for anything. To tell me to do anything. And you, you use me for everything you can get. Because you want to be loved and when Dyson's not giving it to you, you think you can get it from me…"_

_Bo gaped at her. She understood Lauren was hurt, but this was poking at her sore spots, making her out to be like the rest of the Fae – inhuman and arrogant._

"_You imply that you love me. All the time. But you don't tell me." Lauren turned away, blinking back tears. "You accused me of playing games? When you're hot and cold at the same time. You want me, you don't want me. You'll flirt with Dyson in front of me. Screw a stranger in the room next to me, where I can hear. You're inconsistent. And whether I'm under orders or not, whether Nadia's around or not, I've always been consistent about you – about how I feel about you."_

"_Screwing me under orders? Borrowing my car to go on a, a honeymoon with your girlfriend?" Bo's anger exploded into life. "Like hell you're consistent. One moment you want to talk, the next you're undressing me with your eyes, and the next you clam up and go all business-like and professional! You're the one playing games. Teasing me just for the hell of it. At least the way Dyson feels about me has, has _substance_ to it!"_

"_And if it's so substantial than why do you need me?" Lauren taunted._

"_I don't," Bo hissed._

"_Good." Lauren still didn't turn around, because she didn't want Bo to see the tears on her face. "Because I'm leaving."_

* * *

"Happy anniversary, boss," Elva chirped, sitting on Bo's desk. "Can you believe it's been going so long?"

Blinking to try and clear some sleep from her eyes, Bo looked up. "What? Anniversary? Oh, fuck. Dyson's going to be _furious_."

Elva rolled her eyes. "Not that anniversary. I mean the business. Seventy years today."

Elva was a sweet little fire Fae. She was able to control it a little and breathe it. Bo had hired her more than forty years earlier, persuaded to by Kenzi on the grounds that Elva had helped light a flaming shot. It was an unconventional approach to hiring, but everyone hired by Kenzi had proved to be amazing at their jobs anyway – but then, that was a good way to describe Kenzi. Unconventional, but amazing. Bo still missed her terribly, even though it had been more than five years. Kenzi's grand-daughter worked as one of the secretaries, but that didn't help much since she was completely unlike Kenzi apart from her big blue eyes.

Bo wished Kenzi was still here to help her with everything. Like with this wedding business – there was still a month to go but Bo's cold feet had started somewhere around the moment Dyson had gone down on one knee. She supposed she was lucky he'd waited sixty-eight years into their relationship to do it, since apparently he'd bought the ring less than a year in. In fact, he said he'd been waiting until she was ready – as if he could possibly know when she was ready. He'd said it so _patronisingly_, too…

Bo felt her forehead wrinkle with stress and forced herself to relax. She was doing it again – looking for little flaws. Getting annoyed with Dyson for no reason at all.

"Seventy years? Really?" she said, refocusing on Elva.

"Since the first case," Elva said proudly. "I looked it up. Back when it was just you and Kenzi."

So only a few days after she'd first met Lauren, then. And Dyson, and Hale,, and Trick. And Kenzi herself come to think of it. Oh, god, Kenzi. Five years since she'd seen Kenzi, unless you counted visiting her grave.

Sixty-eight years since she'd seen Lauren…

Bo realised she was staring at her top drawer and forced herself to pay attention. "Where's Dyson?" she said abruptly.

Elva shrugged, used to her boss's edginess and brusqueness. "I think he went down to the Dal. Probably just gone to referee another argument between Trick and Hale."

Bo nodded wearily. When Trick had decided to retire, he had chosen to give the bar to Hale to run. While Bo had missed having Hale's full time presence as one of her detectives, she'd understood. Unfortunately, in the fifty years since Trick had gone to Hawaii, Hale had gotten his own ways of doing things, and now that Trick was back to give Bo away at the wedding, he wasn't too happy about that. They were butting heads a lot. Near-constantly, in fact.

"No, a widow asked him to check out her husband's death. The body's at the Light Fae compound, Doc says it's a disease but doesn't know which one," a passing detective offered. His name was Jez, Bo thought but wasn't sure. The firm was so big now – so many detectives. Every Fae who didn't want to be aligned joined them. They had several offices in other countries, their own travel witch, and the money and resources to conduct operations anywhere in the world. Sadly, this meant Bo could no longer personally know everything that was happening or everyone who worked there.

It was a bone of contention with Dyson, too. They'd argued about it twice. He'd just _assumed_ that once they were married it would be his firm. The same yen for leadership which had made him believe he was the Champion supposed to fight the Garuda made him believe that if anyone should be running the agency, surely it should be him. And once they were married, legally it would be, he pointed out. And Bo had pointed out that that was no longer the case, that law had changed about a hundred years ago and now the husband didn't automatically own anything. Dyson replied that he was an ex-cop, the most qualified to run a detective agency, and she couldn't expect him to be a subordinate to his own wife, and after all she'd be taking care of their pups anyway…

It was probably a good thing that Bo had gotten called away to deal with the Fae elders latest complaints about her behaviour before she could reply. There was nowhere good it could have led.

Bo couldn't help but remember how Lauren always acted as an advisor, without trying to be her boss. Lauren had never had much ego – possibly years with the Light Fae had stripped her of any. She had always just been there, in the background, willing to help to the best of her ability. Any objections she had were registered in her calm, even voice, not thrown out as orders. Bo smiled, remembering how Lauren – the woman even the Garuda considered intelligent, the doctor who'd saved hundreds of lives, the scientist who could come up with cures no one else even thought of – would nod and listen to her thoughts and opinions. Even though Bo hadn't been a part of the Fae world for long, had been woefully ignorant about it. Even though Bo had never really had a formal education after high school. And even though Bo had killed many people (albeit not on purpose), Lauren had sat there and nodded and listened to her opinions on morality and right and wrong…

But it was stupid to think of it now. Lauren had been in her thirties seventy years ago. Even if she had still been alive, she would be a little old lady, with a cane and glasses and grandchildren and even great-grandchildren. It had been too late to go back for many, many years now, no matter how much Bo might wish otherwise sometimes.

Elva let out a gasp. "Oh, shit!"

Bo looked up from the bring paperwork again and followed Elva's gaze to the big double doors. "Shit," she echoed, eyes widening as Dyson staggered through them, seemingly crying tears of blood. "Shit!"

Dyson collapsed right in front of Bo and she leapt forward, turning him over, checking frantically for injuries. She half-expected to find his eyes torn out but instead they seemed to be perfectly healthy when she pried them open. Under his fingernails was bleeding as well.

"Not an injury," Elva said, rather obviously. Everyone in the office had gathered around, all feeling for pulses and checking for wounds. Some were just panicking, which Bo thought was rather embarrassing considering they were supposed to be trained private investigators and therefore more hardened than this.

Bo stood up, taking charge as usual. "All right, call the compound, let them know we're coming. Dyson's Light Fae, they'll treat him."

"The Doc's useless," one of the secretaries, a shifter like Dyson, muttered. He blanched as Bo shot him a glare. "I meant, yes, miss, right away."

"You, you and you, help me carry him," Bo ordered. "I should give him some chi first, but then we'll take him." She tried to force some chi into him, kissing him on his lips and tasting blood in his mouth, but it didn't seem to have any effect. As soon as she stepped back he retched and she winced.

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Elva offered, seeing Bo's anxious look. "Listen, I'll call Hale, get him to meet you there. And I'll take care of everything here. You just be with your fiancé."

"Right," Bo said. "My fiancé. Right."

* * *

**I promise this will get better - and make more sense - as it goes on. It will also get much more Lauren. In case you can't understand the format, the section in italics is the past (aka just after the end of season two). The parts not in italics are sixty-eight years later, in the present time of this story. This format will continue throughout until eventually the italics catch u. This will be quite a long story, I'd say at least 50,000 words. I don't expect to get many readers, but if you like Doccubus, I'd love it if you gave this I try.**

**Several notes:**

**1) I'm sorry about the lack of Kenzi. She will appear frequently in the flashbacks and nearly as frequently be referenced by Bo in the present. It's just difficult to have a story seventy years in the future and have all the same cast members, for obvious reasons. This wasn't because I don't like Kenzi - in fact, I love her. If she was team Doccubus too then she'd be perfect. In fact she's my favourite character after Lauren and Bo. In fact, sometimes when they're all being angsty, she's my favourite character overall just because she makes me laugh.**

**2) Don't tell me my characters are OOC, or that you don't like my OCs. I'm new at this fandom so I may not get it quite right, it may take time to find their voices. Tell me if I got facts wrong and I will try to fix them if I can, but don't tell me 'he/she wouldn't do that'. It's my story.**

**3) I love reviews, but I do understand if you don't want to give them. If you can, do, if you can't I'll still finish this story whatever. Some stories you just need to write. But I will appreciate any encouragement.**

**4) I know this is a weird idea. I hope people accept it and are enthusiastic about it being a new idea, instead of disliking it just for being different. Please don't hate on this story just for the premise - wait till I write parts of it badly and then hate on me for that. jk.**

**5) I will update every day or at least every second. I think I can actually promise that for once. This should be about 15 chapters in total, no sequel necessary.**


	3. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

_Lauren started to pack up at the lab. It was a disturbing thought, but most of what she valued was there, instead of in the apartment. She'd never thought of the apartment as home. She'd never even really thought of the apartment as hers._

_Perhaps she'd never really thought of Bo as hers either._

_The thing about Bo… the thing about Bo was, she was amazing. Everyone could see it so clearly. Bo was a destined person – a leader, a hero. It was an honour just to be in her orbit. To be part of her world. But that was the trouble – Bo was the hero. When she was around, everyone else became sidekicks. She shone brighter than everyone else, so by comparison everyone else was a little duller. She was surrounded by people who were amazing in their own right, but it was always Bo's story. You could be a minor character in the story, or you could leave the story entirely, but you could never be a major player._

_For a little while Lauren had forgotten that. She'd started thinking of herself as important. Perhaps it was because Bo constantly told her she was. But the truth was, Lauren was a minor character, the medic. The scientist. In a book or a movie she'd be the character who was there to rattle off the science talk and give exposition, she wouldn't be the love interest. The love interest would be a macho man – obviously supernatural, because it was a story about the supernatural – with a dark past, and angst, and the ability to fight side by side with heroine._

_Dyson, in other words._

_Also, Bo was a succubus. She would never lack for partners. She could have literally anyone she wanted. Lauren had gotten used to thinking of Bo's attachment to her, her feelings for her, as an anomaly. Perhaps caused by misplaced gratitude to Lauren for helping her control her powers. The fact was, 'human doctor' was not an ideal match for 'immortal inhumanly beautiful succubus with complex fate and dark past'. 'Human doctor' was a good match for 'human photographer'. That had worked. But Bo, she was destined for much greater things then Lauren._

_But… Lauren paused in the act of shoving things into a bag. Bo might be destined for greater things, but Lauren wasn't sure she was destined for happier things. Temperamental Dyson, with his disdain for humans, and his controlling attitude, and his arrogance… Lauren couldn't see him making Bo happy. Not for long. The wolf was too full of himself and his own problems, too unwilling to be backup and too eager to be a leader._

_She could make Bo happy, Lauren thought. Cooking meals for her, and keeping her company, and putting her first, and loving her. Understanding about her need to feed from other people. Bo needed someone whose ego wouldn't get in the way…_

_Like Lauren's had just done._

_Lauren sat down hard, suddenly feeling very foolish. It had been stupid to argue with Bo, to throw a tantrum. Why would that change anyone's mind? And just because she couldn't be with Bo anymore didn't mean she couldn't help her, and take care of her. Lauren loved Bo, after all. Lauren had been a slave for five years, doing whatever it took, effacing herself when necessary, ignoring her pride and inclinations, to please people who didn't give a damn about her. Why was it so much harder to give up her pride to look after someone who cared about her a lot, who was always nice to her, and who believed in her?_

_So. She was staying, after all. For Bo, even if she wasn't _her_ Bo. It had been so arrogant of her to expect to come first, to expect love and attention and faithfulness. Bo had never promised any of that. Bo had just promised her friendship, and that was more than anyone had given Lauren for a long time. Perhaps she should be grateful for getting as much as she had from someone so clearly out of her league…_

_Suddenly a noise from the computers caught Lauren's attention. There was something playing on the security cameras. Perhaps Bo had cooled off and come back to make up? Or not cooled off, and come back to continue their fight? Or maybe – Lauren let herself entertain the idea for a second – come back to say she was sorry, and that she loved Lauren, and that she didn't want Dyson after all?_

_But the security camera feed didn't show much of anything by the time she reached it. It had been broken. So had most of the rest. She witnessed the last one die, smashed by a thrown rock, catching only a glimpse of the crowd outside before it flickered and died._

_It was the Light Fae, and they were _angry_._

* * *

"What do you mean, you don't know how to fix him?" Bo said through gritted teeth.

"That I don't know how to fix him. Do you want me to talk slower?" the elderly Fae doctor who had taken over after what happened with Lauren had nowhere near his predecessor's charm or attractiveness. He also disliked everyone on principle, especially Bo for her ties with humans. Bo's many human friends and employees stuck in the craw of some of the older Fae just as much as her unaligned status. The fact that she was influencing more and more young Fae towards her views also played a part.

Bo growled, pacing the familiar lab. Sixty-eight years since she'd seen Lauren here, sixty-eight years of this other doctor, and she still thought of it as Lauren's lab. There were times when she thought she could see the other woman's aura out of the corner of her eye. Right now, though, the reason she wanted to see Lauren was not personal, but was instead from a practical standpoint – Lauren would be much more use than Doctor Greybeard here.

The man might have been Fae, with thousands of years to learn his craft, but he had nowhere near Lauren's intelligence. Lauren had seemed to know what was wrong with her patients almost by instinct – if Bo hadn't known better, she would have thought Lauren was some kind of Fae, gifted with the ability to mend people.

After a few more laps of the room, Bo felt calm enough to attempt communication again. "Three days of tests, three days of being unconscious, bleeding from everywhere, and you don't know a damn thing?"

"I don't even have to tell you anything," the doctor said haughtily. "You're not Light."

"I'm his common-law wife!"

"Human law, not ours," the doctor reminded her coldly. When she stepped forward, murder in her eyes, he took a hasty step back and coughed. "But you are essentially right. I don't know anything about what's wrong with him, not really. I think he had whatever the man I was treating before him had. The corpse he came in to see. I think he must have caught it."

X_X_X_X

When Bo got back to the office it was a whirr of activity. Elva came forward to report. "We have agents in fourteen different Fae hospitals across the globe looking for anything like this."

"Any leads?"

"Not really," Elva said. "But there is someone waiting in your office. He says he has to tell you something. About Dyson," she added hastily.

Bo nodded brusquely and strode into her office. "Well?" she demanded.

The man there was short, with very dark green eyes and very freckled skin. "Hello, miss," he said, a little nervously.

"What information do you have?"

The man quavered and Bo reminded herself to be more polite in the future. "I'm sorry," she said more calmly. "Would you like to sit down? What's your name?"

"Seamus," he said, relaxing a bit. "Ah… I'm a mystic, miss. A real one, you know."

"Oh," Bo said without interest. She'd seen a few mystics before. Even if they were real, their information tended to be so cryptic that it was useless. "And you had a vision…?"

Seamus nodded. "Sort of. Mine come as, like, messages. Like someone speaking in my head. And this one I'm supposed to pass onto you."

"Shoot," Bo tried to smile at him. The poor guy still looked freaked.

"'What you want more than anything else is in the Sempolo'," he quoted, his eyes flaring to a bright yellow as he said the words. "That's all, miss, I'm afraid."

"Alright. And why'd you pass it on?"

"Excuse me?"

"Why did you come tell me? Is there something you want in return?"

"No," the man looked quite surprised. "You, er, your firm, they helped me out fourteen years ago, with some, er, problems. I thought now I could… you know… pay you back."

"Right," Bo stared at him. It was a rather weak excuse. She knew very few people who helped others for no reason at all, besides herself and her friends. Well, and most charities. And some other people. Oh, well. She supposed it was possible. Most Fae seemed more annoyed about being charged at all, then grateful to the agents who sorted out their issues, though.

Still, it was a lead. And no one else was getting anywhere. "What's the Sempolo?"

"Uh, I looked it up, miss. It's a region in Africa. Uganda. One of the wilder bits."

Twenty years before Uganda had fought a war with some of the more progressive nations in Africa, fighting for their right to be backwards, conservative, and prejudiced. They had won that right, while wasting most of their food, destroying a lot of land, accidentally killing off lots of animals and people, and in essence leaving Uganda without much food, water, medicine or comforts at all.

"I'll look into it," she told him, and watched him leave. Then she sat there for a while, thinking. What would Kenzi have said? 'Send an underling, it's bound to be messy'? Or 'Go, girl, do the action-y saving people thing you do best!' Maybe she would have said 'Dyson needs you', or 'don't ever trust a mystic', or 'at least take some chocolate'. There was no way to know anymore if Kenzi would have been for or against the plan – Kenzi had always surprised her with the wisdom and depth no one realised she had, so her advice was never predictable. Bo knew exactly what all her coworkers now would say – that they would sort it out, that she had no reason to go anywhere.

Well, screw that. Bo punched in some numbers on her mobile. "Kendra? How do you feel about using your powers to send me to Africa?"

X_X_X_X_X

Seamus was shaking even more as he entered a small room on the other side of town. "Hello," he said nervously. "I did what you asked."

"So she'll go?"

"Oh, yes, miss, er, Norn, miss. I think she will," Seamus fidgeted. "Only, she won't die, will she?" He sounded wretched, his morality battling with his debt to the Norn.

The Norn smiled. It was horrifying. "No idea. But either way, the wolf will have been punished for reneging on our deal. Finally."

* * *

**In case you can't tell... I am not fond of Uganda. Could be something to do with the whole 'kill the gays' bill they have going on. Knowing I could be actually legally executed for my sexual preferences in a country generally gives me a dislike of it.**

**But on a happier subject - you guys have been really amazing so far. Thank you so much to you guys who reviewed, you all were so supportive. I only hope you keep liking this once you get a better idea where it's going. I can promise it's probably not going to go the way you expect.**


	4. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

"_Well, I did it," Bo collapsed on the couch next to Kenzi looking exhausted and miserable. "I broke up with Lauren."_

"_Were you ever two ever actually dating? I mean, I know you were playing doctor, but was it really, like, anything more than bow-chicka-wow-wow?" Kenzi said._

_Bo frowned. "You know it was. I mean, we didn't say so, but it was."_

"_But now the Tin Man's got his heart again it's time to ditch Glinda the Good Witch." Kenzi nodded. "I get it. How'd she take it?"_

"_Badly," Bo stared at the ceiling. "She said a lot of nasty things and then told me she was leaving town."_

"_Oh. I'm going to miss her."_

"_Don't be stupid, she won't actually leave," Bo tensed. "Will she?"_

"_Mmm, let's see," Kenzi pretended to ponder the question. "Stay around watching her ex get bestial while she's a lurve slave to a man titled after a tree? Or take off for exotic beaches beautiful women?" She relented when she saw Bo's stricken expression. "Of course she won't. Once you go Bo you never go home. Or something to that effect. Only…"_

"_What?"_

"_I dunno, maybe she should go. As useful as she is, it would kinda suck if she had to spent the rest of her life watchin' you do it like they do on the discovery channel with Dyson," Kenzi patted Bo on the arm. The thing was, even though Kenzi would always default to being on Bo's side, whatever, the Doc had saved her life recently with the whole Garuda thing. And even before that, she'd been growing on Kenzi. Maybe it was because they were the only humans involved in this big mess, or because they were the ones who seemed to love Bo the most, or even just because her cupcakes were out of this world. But still. Having lost Nate recently, Kenzi couldn't imagine how it would feel to watch him live out a happy life with someone else. "I just mean, after her girlfriend went all Darth Vader complete with dramatic death scene, girlfriend deserves a break."_

_Bo looked torn. "Am I doing the wrong thing?" she burst out. "I mean, I… she's Lauren. You know? And I… the way I feel about her… but it's easier if I do it now. We wouldn't last."_

"_Who says?"_

"_Time. Time says. If we got together," the truth came out of Bo in a rush, "If we got together, I would watch her age. Die of old age."_

_Kenzi nodded. "Plus old people are icky."_

"_And if I stay with her, that means I hurt Dyson," Bo continued. "It feels like… it feels like I have no choice. You know? Lauren, she can move on, find someone else. She was _happy_ with Nadia. Dyson can't move on, ever. I'm his mate. So the only way they both have a chance at being happy is for me to be with Dyson. I just don't see why she doesn't get that. She'll find another Nadia."_

"_And what about what will make you happiest?"_

"_What will make me happy is watching them be happy," Bo said firmly. "And… maybe you're right. Maybe Lauren should leave. _Actually_ find another Nadia, live out a normal life."_

"_That's what you want?" Kenzi sounded doubtful._

"_That's what I should want." Bo sounded miserable. Kenzi doubted she even realised it, but she was touching her neck in the way Lauren always touched her pendant. Kenzi might have initially preferred Dyson, and she would be happy for them now if they worked it out, but the coils of Hotpants reached further than her friend was aware, Kenzi was sure of it._

_There was a frantic knocking at the door. Before either of them could answer it, Hale burst in. He was scruffy, missing his hat, and his eyes were wild. "I need your help," he said without preamble. "Some of the Light Fae have formed a mob. Someone started a rumour that the Dark Fae will use the power vacuum created by the quick changes in leadership to take over. Some of the Light are going crazy, attacking people and stealing shit. A lot of the rest are getting out of town."_

_Bo was already getting up. "What do we do?"_

"_We're protecting the sanctuary at the Dal, letting in all the scared ones, the ones with kids and families. Keeping the mobs out. Come on."_

Before she left Bo visited Kenzi's grave to tell her everything. It had become something of a ritual. She also visited the memorial for Lauren that Kenzi had made in the park, which she rarely visited because it reminded her of how pathetic she was to still be a little in love with a ghost. It made her feel useless and stupid and very, very sad to think that Lauren could probably have figured out what was wrong with Dyson in a heartbeat.

The Sempolo region was not like Bo had expected. To start with, she had a mental picture of Africa that included dryness and a very high temperature – instead, it was neither cold nor hot, and very wet when she arrived. The sky seemed totally grey. You couldn't even tell where the sun was. She felt instantly foolish in her stereotypically safari getup.

It wasn't a large region, from what she'd read, or even a very old region. In fact it had been created in the minor war twenty years ago as a place for the few people who wanted peace – that was what Sempolo meant. Unfortunately, asking for peace in a warring land had simply meant that this place had been hit hard by their fellow countrymen as well as by the other side, leaving it as the deadest place here.

Bo had asked to be delivered near the town with biggest Fae population. As soon as she looked around she could see it, only a five minute walk down a gradual incline. And in fact, she was so worried that she made it down in rather less than three. As she passed workers and beggars she casually drew chi from them. Over the years she'd learned to lift small amounts of chi from people without touching them, and if she did it constantly, she needed to feed far less often. These days she estimated she could survive for a month or more without feeding off anyone, though she'd never tested her limits.

She walked through the muddy, unpaved roads until she saw someone who she recognised as Fae. It was something in the man's dark eyes as much as his aura – she couldn't have said what it was. Over the years she'd learnt how to tell when someone was Fae.

"Hello," she said smoothly, placing a hand on his arm.

He glanced at her, starting to mouth a swear-word, and then blinked when he saw that it was a beautiful woman. Instead he said something else in another language.

"Speak English, please," Bo said as seductively as she could, "I can't understand what you're saying, it might as well be Swahili for all I know. And I want to understand what you're saying," she leant in, forcing some of her power into him. "I do love a man who speaks well…"

"I was spikkin' Swahili," the man said, his eyes glazing. "An' keep doing that. Pliz. Ohhh."

"Take me to your leader," Bo said cheerfully. "Now."

X_X_X_X

The man proved to be Dark Fae, and his leader was known as the Muhingo. Apparently he'd been a great warrior thousands of years ago. Bo didn't really care. In her personal opinion, it was simply a very silly name – not that she could say so, because that would probably be culturally insensitive not to mention suicidal. On the plus side, he spoke excellent English.

"What are you doing here, succubus?" The Muhingo didn't look like a warrior – he was a dry, tall man, with no hair at all, even eyebrows, and he lounged in what she could only call his throne as if it was too much effort to get up. If she had met him somewhere else, Bo would have thought he was very ill. There was security all around him, easily fifty or sixty armed Fae, but he had allowed her forward after being thoroughly searched. She had had to threaten to drain some of his men when they got overly eager in their search, and he had only smiled as if her puny threats amused him.

Bo was not a fan so far.

"I'm looking for something," Bo said. "A cure. For a disease."

The Muhingo smirked. "Here? Really? You've been misinformed. The populace here doesn't have much in the way of cures."

Bo glared at him. "Hear me out."

"Why should I?"

Bo leaned forward until she could smell his rank breath, only an inch away from her. "Because I have lots of friends. And that means that if I am your enemy, you will have _lots of enemies_." She straightened. "And I'm sure you know who I am, even over here. Which means you know what I've done."

"Rumours may have reached us," the Muhingo allowed. "All right, then. I will hear you out. But I don't promise to help."

He listened as Bo described the symptoms. "I don't recognise it," he said eventually. "Don't glare at me, succubus. I am telling the truth. I have no reason not to help you if I could, since I suspect a favour from you would have value in the future."

"So this is a wild goose chase?" Bo said, frustrated.

"I didn't say that." The Muhingo looked thoughtful. "Perhaps you can deal with a problem of mine. We believe there is an unaligned Fae who lives in the forests to the west of here."

"And why would I help you with anything?"

"Because this Fae is rumoured to be able to heal anything," the Muhingo smirked. "Yes, I thought that would interest you. This Fae – the locals call it the White Ghost in our language – seems to have healed a few Fae before, as well as any injured humans it comes across. We have heard whispers from the Light Fae. It's possible they know where it can be found, but they won't talk."

"To you," Bo said grimly.

"To anyone," the man said lightly. "Believe me, if I haven't managed to find out more than that, neither will you. I can be very… persuasive." His dark smile spoke of dimly-lit rooms full of blood and pain, sharp instruments and fire.

"I bet you can," said Bo, "But not as persuasive as me."

X_X_X_X

Bo had to compel several Light Fae before one knew anything, and even then it was just that a white-cloaked, glowing being had healed him. He was able to give the location of a small village that worshipped the creature, though, and Bo took off for there.

Once she was in the village, it wasn't hard to find someone who knew where the supposed 'White Ghost' lived.

"I'll take you there, mistress," the woman breathed, staring at Bo like she was an angel. "It's where my sister Mali lives."

Bo frowned. "Your sister lives with a ghost?"

"With White Ghost, yes," the woman clutched at Bo's arm. She looked like she'd completely forgotten what they were talking about as she stared at Bo blissfully. Several other villagers had noticed and were whispering frantically.

"Take me there," Bo said urgently. When the woman ignored her, rubbing her cheek against Bo's arm, Bo shoved more power into her. "_Listen to me_. I've already been gone four days. Interrogating people, compelling them, travelling all over this area. I don't have time for this. _Dyson _doesn't have time for this." She shoved even more power into her. "_Take me there right now_."

"It will make you happy?"

"Very happy."

When they got there, there was no one in the hut, but it was clear that someone – or more than one person – lived there normally. Bo compelled the woman she'd used to go back to the village, promising to come see her later, and then settled down to wait.

Soon a woman came home. She was so much like the woman Bo had compelled that Bo felt sure she was this Mali – the White Ghost's wife. She wondered if that was why he avoided the other Fae, because he was in love with a human. If so she could understand that and had no plans at all to help the Muhingo capture him. What most interested her was that the Muhingo hadn't been able to find him – what kind of Fae was this, if he could ensure that nobody talked about him even under threat of torture? He must be either very powerful, or very charismatic. Or under the protection of someone powerful. Maybe even all three.

It was several hours before anyone else appeared. The woman – Mali – made food, gathered firewood, and then sat out the front, waiting for the White Ghost to return Bo supposed. When he did, Mali ran to him and threw her arms around him.

The Ghost was slight and slender, and wrapped in white cloth. Even his head was covered with a long hood. He didn't talk at all to Mali even as she chattered excitedly, hugging her slightly and then walking beside her to the hut. It was getting dark and Bo could see the light glow coming off the being.

Bo hesitated. If the Fae attacked, she didn't really want the human girl there. So she waited another torturous hour, nearly giving up several times, until the White Ghost came out alone to check something in the small garden, before approaching from behind.

"Hello?" she said, cursing that she hadn't thought to learn any Swahili or whatever other languages they spoke out here.

Something about what she said seemed to shock the other person, who turned around so fast that the hood fell off.

Bo felt her mouth drop open, her eyes grow wide. There was a sudden lurching in her stomach, a feeling that her legs were like jelly and her heart was so large it was bursting. She felt a sudden headache, and like she was about to throw up, and the purest, strangest sort of joy she had ever known, all mixing within her and overpowering her.

It was Lauren.

..

* * *

**To leader, who I couldn't reply to as you're anonymous: I was trying to imply the two groups of Fae at the wedding were Light and Dark. That's why I said the third group wore dark clothes and there were only about ten of them – I figured she would've invited a couple of Dark Fae who she got along with or had helped out (like the brother of the guy the banshee marked for death) and the rest were ones it would have been offensive not to invite. My bad for not knowing a good way to make that clear.**

**Is Muhingo a stupid name? Yes, yes it is. But the Morrigan is named after a celtic warrior goddess, and you try finding a cool-sounding Ugandan war god on short notice. Go on. I dare you.**

**Thanks for all the reviews. You guys are really great.**


	5. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

"_Come in, come in," Bo ushered the old lady through, ignoring her all-white eyes and slightly wavering outline. If she concentrated too hard on it, it felt like she was about to throw up, so it was easier to allow her eyes to stay unfocused. "Kenz, I think this is the last of them."_

_The bar was full to bursting, it contained so many Fae. In fact it looked like pictures Bo had seen in National Geographic of refugee camps, with everyone huddled and wide-eyed._

_Bo managed to get through the crowd to Trick anyway. "I don't understand. We defeated the Garuda. Why would the Fae freak out?"_

"_They're a bunch of little pansies?" Kenzi suggested._

_Trick frowned. "I have a theory," he said heavily. "It's not a very cheerful one." He steepled his fingers like he always did when thinking hard. "I think a Chaos Fae – one who causes and feeds off panic – might have set up shop here. It would have taken at least three weeks to grow this powerful, though."_

"_You think it was attracted by the Garuda," Bo realised. "Feeding off the panic that created, so that we didn't even notice…"_

"_It was making its own panic as well," Kenzi completed. "Man! These Fae are bitches. Why would it attack its own kind?"_

"_Crazy?" suggested Hale, who had been listening in. "Or a distraction, maybe?"_

"_Perhaps," Trick allowed. "But since we don't know what it's a distraction for, there's not much we can do about it. I don't know much about Chaos Fae. We'll just have to ride it out."_

"_And let more people die? No," Bo shook her head. In one swift move, she pulled herself up to stand on the bar. "Everyone!" she bellowed. "Listen to me!"_

_There were a few grumbles, but most of the Fae turned to face her. There was panic in their eyes, but they were holding steady despite it. The ones with children held them close and didn't allow them to move at all._

"_Does anyone here know anything about Chaos Fae?"_

"_I do," growled a large Fae by the door. "My mother-in-law was one." There were a few half-hearted laughs, but the Fae raised his voice. "I'm serious!"_

_Bo got closer to him. "Where would it go? If there was one causing this, where would it be?"_

_The big man shrugged. "Somewhere central to the people it's panicking. Some place with authority, that they'd trust, and go to for help -"_

_The same idea hit everyone at once. "The compound," Kenzi and Hale said at the same time._

"_Lauren," Bo breathed. "Alright, you two grab Dyson and meet me there. Lauren could be in danger."_

"_We're all in danger," Kenzi muttered as Bo dashed off. "Just only one of us is likely to give you hot lady lovin' if you rescue us."_

"_So if I rescued you -" Hale began._

"_No," Kenzi said immediately._

"_Damn."_

_X_X_X_X__

_Bo felt her heart pounding in her chest. It took all her effort to suppress her blue-eyed alter ego. "Stop it," she muttered, forcing herself to pay attention to where she was driving. "Stop it now! My eyes are so much sexier dark!" She wondered if this was how Dyson felt when he was suppressing the wolf. It occurred to her that they would have to be careful in couples' arguments, given that either of them could hulk out without any notice._

_Couple. It felt weird to think of them being a couple. It was what she'd wanted for so long. And they were so alike, too – both impulsive people, who acted on instinct, both very protective, both territorial, both Fae. And it was what she'd wanted for so long._

_Why wasn't it ringing true anymore? If it was what she'd wanted for so long, shouldn't she be happier now they were together? Feel some kind of deep contentment, even in the chaos, like she'd felt when she kissed Lauren before going to take on the Garuda?_

_Perhaps her dreams had changed and she hadn't even noticed. Perhaps this was simply a dead dream she was holding onto…_

_No. For Dyson's sake, and her sake, and even Lauren's sake, this was one decision she couldn't change._

_Surprisingly she ran into the Chaos Fae when she was barely in the door._

_It seemed like a young boy, with dark black hair and a sweet smile. Until you looked into its eyes, which were like black holes. Bo could see his aura, too, and it was lust of a different kind – lust for violence. "The mob went that way," he said immediately, pointing left. Towards the lab, Bo noticed with a leap of horror. "They scared me, and I lost my mummy."_

"_Right," Bo said with deep sarcasm, "And I should trust the little psychopath why?"_

_The boy laughed in a sinister way, dropping the act. "Oh, I like you, you're fun. And so much more powerful than you even realise. But there's chaos in your head. Just having you here is like a feast in its own right, I barely even need the rest."_

"_Then why do it?" Bo pulled out her knife, but she was shaking. She wasn't sure she could hurt it. The thing was, even though she knew it was Fae, it seemed like a young boy. Perhaps it even was one as well as being Fae. She'd never hurt a child before._

_The boy shrugged, looking at her with his black hole eyes. "It's fun. I've never feasted like this before." He nodded to himself. "And the doctor was fun, too, hiding away in her little lab. Nearly as much chaos in her head as yours. It was a shame when it stopped."_

"_You're lying," Bo hissed, knowing it. The boy was manipulating her, trying to sow chaos inside of her. She could recognise his lies. She could._

_He walked towards her. "Am I? Then stop me talking. Go on," his face was full of evil challenge. He was smug, seeing her shaking hands. "Stab me. Stab the poor little boy."_

_Bo gasped. Her brain was suddenly full of fear and panic. She could feel her knees weakening, trembling. After a few seconds they gave out._

_The boy-monster reached into her hands and easily took the knife from them. Bo gave it up, unresisting, unable to control her hands at all. "That's good," the boy soothed her, stroking her face a little and bringing the knife up towards her quivering neck. "Very good. It will all be over soo -" Suddenly he stiffened and toppled sideways._

_Kenzi raised the cosh, looking proud of herself. "Hit him in the exact right area," she said proudly to no one in particular. Hale and Dyson were standing there as well, clearly shaking off the effects._

"_Kenzi, that was a little boy!"_

"_Really? All the little boys I know play with monster trucks, not knives! Well, except my cousin Ike, anyway." she admitted. "It wasn't a boy, it was Fae. And I think it's alive anyway. Just not conscious."_

"_How were you able to resist it?" Hale asked. "It put chaos in all our heads, even though it was only aiming for Bo. It was broadcasting chaos."_

_Kenzi shrugged. "There's always chaos in my head," she said simply._

_Hale shook his head admiringly. "You're amazing."_

"_And don't I know it." Kenzi gave him a wink._

"_Lauren," Bo said hoarsely, interrupting their flirting, running towards the lab. From the door she could see signs of packing – Lauren had meant it, she realised with a lurch – but she couldn't see Lauren. "It said she was in the lab. When the mob came through. He said she's in her lab."_

_Kanzie, Hale and Dyson exchanged glances. "It was probably lying," Kenzi said strongly._

_Bo turned the corner in the lab. And it had been lying. Lauren wasn't in the lab._

_All that was there was her corpse._

* * *

"Lauren," Bo breathed. It was Lauren, perfect, glowing slightly as if she was an angel. Her hair curled in the way it always did, her eyes gleamed the way they always had. Her soft lips, not curled into a smile now, but tense with surprise and what looked like horror. Even her aura was perfect.

Which didn't change the fact that Bo knew Lauren couldn't be alive, couldn't, and even if she had been, she would be an old lady. A little old lady, with knitting and wrinkles, and no, God no, this couldn't be Lauren.

Bo's knife was in her hand before she knew she was going to draw it. Hate and rage filled her up and fuelled her. That something would desecrate the memory of the woman she'd loved by impersonating her made her blackly, hopelessly furious. And furious with herself for the hope and happiness that had filled her at just the sight of the other woman. Furious that even now part of her wanted to just let whatever it was go on living so she could pretend that she was seeing the real Lauren once again.

The knife was at Lauren's throat in under a second. "Bo," Lauren whispered, her voice strained. "Bo, stop it."

"How dare you," Bo raged, her voice thick. "How dare you. Change back into your real form, right now, or I swear to God I will kill you where you stand. I don't know if you're evil, or just stupid, but if you stand in front of me looking like her for one more second I won't bother to find out."

Tears were falling down Bo's face and she barely even noticed them.

The fake Lauren reached up gingerly and pushed Bo's arm – and the knife with it – a little away from her throat. "Bo, it is, it's me," she said quickly. "Listen, I – I can prove it. I can explain everything."

"Prove it? You're not her. You're not, oh, God. _Lauren._"

"The first time we slept together, I was under orders," Lauren talked as fast as she could, her words blurring together. "I would have done it anyway so I thought I hadn't done anything wrong. You called the Ash's pendant my dog collar. And, and, the first time I examined you, I called you beautiful. The last time we spoke I said you were worse than the Light Fae. I borrowed your car once for a road trip. I, I, I cooked for you and Kenzi once, and tidied, when I was hiding at your place, but I had to go back for Nadia. And – I told you I absolutely loved you, once, when you were injured and scared about your past catching up with you. And it was the wrong moment and I didn't care."

Bo lowered the knife further. "Lauren?" she whispered hoarsely. The tears continued to pour down her face. "Lauren. Oh my God. _Lauren_." She was aware she wasn't saying anything intelligent and forced her brain to get into gear. "Uh. I should, I should ask you some questions."

"Sure," Lauren agreed, edging a little further away from the knife. Bo noticed her fear and put it down completely, stowing it in her pocket again. Really she was just buying time with the questions, trying to figure out how to react.

"What's Hale's full name?"

Lauren's face scrunched up. "Um… something long and complicated."

Bo let out a disbelieving laugh. "Really? Science girl calls it long and complicated?"

"Baronett William Haley Francois Santiago. Of Clan Zamora," Lauren said before Bo could reach for her knife again. "His parents are snobs. He has a sister, who I believe did something with Dyson once that made Hale extremely angry with both of them. He has a crush on Kenzi, and -"

"Had," Bo said, half-sobbing. "She died five years ago. Right up to the end, I think he still had a crush on her, even when she was wrinkly. She used to joke that one of her kids was his – he still goes to her grave every week – I go even more often - I miss her so much – Oh God, Lauren - Lauren - I miss you both _so much_ -"

Lauren held out her arms, and Bo flew into them without thinking about it. All she knew was that Lauren was here, and warm, and close, and alive. She buried her face in Lauren's hair, bawling out her misery against her. For the moment she didn't care if this was all a lie, or a hallucination, or a ghost.

Then she felt a sharp pain in her leg. Drawing back, she looked down.

A needle shone dully in the moonlight.

"Sorry," Lauren said, with tears in her eyes.

* * *

**So... yeah... promise I do actually have a plan for where this goes. Thanks for the reviews, they make me smile.**


	6. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

"_No," Bo said, her eyes widening and going blue in a second. "NO."_

_Dyson grabbed her, pulling her back and away from Lauren's body, forcing her to stop looking at it. Even he felt a pang at the sight of Lauren's wide-open, unseeing eyes, at the deep scratches and blood all over her. It was like she'd been mauled by animals instead of been attacked by a mob of Fae out of their minds – not that there was much difference._

_Kenzi scuttled towards the corner and curled into a ball there, staring at the body that had been Lauren like it was alive and going to attack her. The other deaths she had seen had typically been of people she didn't know well - not only that, but they were mostly Fae, so their deaths had had a tinge of unreality to them. This, however, was a human. More than that - a human she'd bickered with, and lived with for a short time, and considered, if not a friend, than at least an integral part of the cast of characters who made up her life. For that matter, this was the woman who'd saved her life - and she'd died here, bleeding out alone on the cold hard floor, her head half-cved in and scratched all over. Even in her horror Kenzi's sharp eyes took in the torn, wrecked clothing. Perhaps it had been wrecked when the violent blows struck Lauren, perhaps not. She couldn't help wondering what else the Fae could have done to the poor woman in front of her and prayed the dark possibilities in her mind would never occur to Bo. _

_Hale, his eyes filled with horror, reached out gingerly to take her pulse. There was no point, but he did it anyway, as a sort of last resort. "Cold," he said tonelessly. "More than an hour I'd say, maybe a lot more."_

"_Cold. Doctor Hotpants is cold," Kenzi said, and laughed at the lame pun. It wasn't a normal laugh. It sounded so wrong, so off, that Hale winced at the noise. Within seconds, the strange, lurching laughter had turned into gasps and sobs as she pushed her face against her knees and wept. Hale moved over to her and grabbed her, holding her tightly. For a few seconds Kenzi fought his hold, but then she relaxed into it and simply cried._

"_She can't be dead," Bo said blankly, "I just spoke to her. Only hours ago. I just spoke to her." Bo's eyes brightened, turning bluer. "I can heal her. I can give her chi."_

"_After this long?" Dyson shook his head. "No, Bo, there's no point. You can only heal, you can't bring the dead back to life."_

"_SHE'S NOT DEAD!" Bo pushed away from him in a surprising show of strength, dashing to Lauren as fast as possible. "NOT. DEAD." Her grief was a terrible thing to look at as she grabbed Lauren's body by the shoulders, shaking it._

_Bo lowered her face to the cold thing that had been Lauren, pressing her lips against it desperately. She kissed it, imagining the real Lauren, the actual Lauren, the Lauren she loved, and pushed chi into it._

_There was no reaction._

_So she shoved more and more into her, stripping as much of it out of her body as she could. She lost focus on the real world. Forgetting everything but her. Everything but Lauren._

_She'd loved Lauren. The thought that went through her was clichéd, something from movies and television shows – that she'd never told Lauren. Not once. Not ever. Had never found the time to say 'Lauren, I love you.' But she'd been fine telling her she loved Dyson._

_Which she did. But now, with a cold, certain clarity, Bo realised that she didn't love Dyson as much as she loved Lauren. Not nearly. It had simply been that she thought that whatever happened, she would have Lauren. Lauren caring about her was a solid background, a dependable thing – Bo knew she could date Dyson and have Lauren love her anyway. She'd been wrong when she called Dyson's love more substantial, because it wasn't. It was a thing that could be traded away. Lauren's love was there for good._

_Bo craved love. She had wanted Dyson to love her forever. It had been her first dream in her new life, and she hadn't quite been able to let go of it until this moment. She hadn't been able to stand the thought of spending eternity with Dyson hating her for choosing Lauren, so she thought she could choose Dyson and depend on Lauren not to go anywhere, like she had last time Bo had chosen Dyson. She had figured – somewhere in her stupidest, most petty thoughts – that even if Lauren did hate her for choosing Dyson, it could only be for a while since humans had to forgive quickly since they died so young. It had seemed a simple choice – on the one hand she got Lauren for the next sixty years and never got Dyson at all, on the other hand she could get Lauren for the next sixty years and have Dyson as well. All she had to give up was sex with Lauren, and she could do that if she got to keep the love._

_But at this moment, staring into Lauren's sightless eyes, Bo knew she would never have been able to stay with Dyson forever if Lauren was there. Warm, and loving, with her quirky science-speak and adorable awkwardness. Her endearing shyness and her calm, even doctor's voice. The way she blurted things out._

_No, with Lauren around, smiling her sweet smile, Bo would not have been able to stay with Dyson for more than a few months, if that. Not loving Lauren like she did._

_And she'd never even told her…_

"_I love you. Lauren, do you hear me? _I love you_. Wake up! Stay with me! STAY WITH ME!" Bo said desperately, but Lauren couldn't hear her. It had been a silly notion, anyway, a fairy-tale notion. Actions, that's what mattered. Bo bent her heads to Lauren again and pushed more chi into her, aware that her own chi was dangerously low. But her blue-eyed self was taking over and she no longer cared._

_She felt Dyson shaking her, trying to pull her away. "Bo, you're going grey, you're using too much!" he said frantically._

_Bo's energy rolled around the room like a tornado, creating a wind. Wisps of chi flew off all of them, being pushed into Lauren's body. Bo was pulling from them without even realising it._

_Kenzi realised what was happening. Stunned, she felt her body start to slow, to ache, her mind start to blur. She had to get to Bo. "Bo, stop!" She managed to crawl over to where Bo was and grab her arm roughly, but Bo simply shook her off and continued. "Bo, you're killing us!"_

_Bo blinked, her eyes going dark again. She looked at Kenzi, full of horror. Suddenly the tornado ceased. Lauren winced and her eyes returned to their normal appearance. "Bo?" she said, blinking once sleepily. Then her eyes fluttered closed, as her skin grew warm and soft. A smile gently curved her mouth._

_Bo, her skin grey, smiled as well. And then her eyes turned up in her head and she gently passed out._

* * *

Bo woke, tied to a chair, and very, very angry. She opened her eyes and saw she was alone in the room. There were only two rooms in the hut, so the people she could hear moving about must be in the other.

"Why did you call me here?" a strange voice said. It was female, but deep, and a little amused. It also had a seductive quality that Bo couldn't entirely trust. It was like it pulled at people. It didn't sound like she'd have expected the girl's voice to sound, but she wondered anyway if it was Mali's – _Mali_. Was that Lauren's girlfriend? The latest in her line of Nadias?

"Come and see," Lauren answered. Her voice was shaking, but she managed to sound pulled together anyway.

Bo kept her eyes cracked a little, so that she could see without them noticing she was awake. She was right in her first guess – the woman wasn't Mali. She was a succubus, Bo could recognise that instantly. And important and rich, judging by her clothing and general air. She had dark hair, dark eyes, and even darker skin, contrasting nicely with Lauren's pale beauty.

"A girl tied to a chair?" the woman put her hand against her heart. "For me? I'm touched. And to think I thought this was going to be boring. You're finally paying your tribute to me, Lauren?"

"Stop it, Mia," Lauren snapped. It was unlike her to be so brusque. "This is serious."

"Who is she?" Bo felt the other succubus's hand reach towards her with her power.

"Stop that! Don't touch her. If you use your power on her, she'll wake up. Come into the other room."

"But she's so much fun to look at," Mia drawled, but she obeyed anyway.

Bo edged the chair towards the door so that she could peer through the crack to watch them as they talked.

Mia was clearly attracted to Lauren, she could see that in every line of her body, and even more in her aura. She leaned towards Lauren as she spoke, flashing her cleavage enticingly. Lauren, on the other hand, seemed to be at a low level – a little attracted, but not enough to ever do anything about it.

"That's Bo," Lauren said flatly. "Someone from my… old life. You know. The one I left."

"And your first response is to knock her out?" Mia sounded delighted, like this was the most entertaining thing she'd heard all day. "Ooh, should I talk to her? Does she have blackmail stories? Entertaining tidbits, even? Like stories about pillow fights?" she paused. "Oh, wait. Bo. _The _Bo? The one you mentioned."

"Yes."

"Why did you knock her out?"

"I panicked." Bo could feel Lauren's embarrassment even through the door.

"Seriously?" Mia laughed. "The elegant Doctor Lewis finally loses it and I'm not here to see? What's the next part of your plan, darling? Run for it?"

The silence that met the question spoke volumes.

"Oh, sweetie. That's just dumb. And I know you know it's dumb. Listen, I'll go talk to her, all right? Find out why she's here. And then, if necessary, you can run, though I can't imagine why it would be. Where's that pretty girl of yours, by the way?"

Bo started edging the chair back to where she'd started from. She had to look like she'd been asleep the whole time.

Lauren opened the door unwillingly. "I sent her to the village, just in case. Told her to come back in a couple of days."

"Another stupid decision," remarked Mia absently. She let some of her power flow into Bo. It had no controlling effect on her at all but did work rather like an energy drink, which Bo appreciated. She allowed her eyes to spring open.

"Hello," she said, judging it not wise to annoy the new woman yet. "Nice to meet you. My name's Bo. Why am I tied to a chair?"

"Just a little misunderstanding," Mia said cheerfully. Lauren looked like she was in hell, staring everywhere else but towards Bo. "Now, I am the Argan. The leader of the Light Fae for this area. And what are you doing here attacking my favourite human?"

Bo turned her head to stare at Lauren. "You… you belong to her? After getting your freedom? Why?"

"I don't have to explain myself to you," Lauren said, looking everywhere except at Bo still. She flushed, like she was aware she sounded like a sulky child.

Mia sighed tolerantly. "Again: why are you here?"

Bo returned her attention to Mia. "My fiancé, Dyson, is dying of a mysterious disease. I was told that the answer was here."

"So you didn't know it was Lauren."

"No. I'm still not sure it is."

Mia laughed. She seemed to do that a lot. Bo had never met a Light Fae ruler who seemed so carefree. "Oh it is," she said, misunderstanding Bo's statement to mean that she wasn't sure if Lauren was the answer, when in fact Bo had meant she wasn't sure it was Lauren. "Lauren here can come up with ways to cure almost anything. She has a ninety-something success rate with the sick Fae I bring to her. She's a genius. And I know she'll help cure your Dyson."

"Mia," Lauren said through gritted teeth, "Can I talk to you in the other room for a second?"

"No you may not." Mia smirked. "I'm going to go the nearest bathroom, which I'm afraid is in the village – what a horrible thought. I'll be back soon, and you can register your objections to me then. While I'm gone you should think about talking to your ex-sweetie here."

X_X_X_X

It was silent for several long minutes after Mia left. "So… Dyson is sick," Lauren said finally.

"Yes." Bo couldn't help feeling very hurt and angry. After decades of imagining meeting Lauren by chance, this wasn't turning out how she'd thought. For one thing, she believed that Lauren would have aged, but she couldn't bring herself to ask how she hadn't, sure that Lauren would just lie to her. But even in her dreams, where Lauren was young forever, meeting her again had always been a joyous thing, despite the anger she still had towards Lauren and that Lauren could have towards her. In those imaginings they always forgave each other instantly. There was lot more kissing and a lot less being stabbed in the leg with needles filled with some kind of drug.

"And you two are engaged."

"Yes."

"I thought you'd be married already. It's been more than seventy years."

"A bit less, actually. Sixty-eight."

"I was counting from the first time you slept together," Lauren said.

Same old Lauren, always had to be right with her facts and figures. Bo felt a flare of rage. "Well, then, seventy years," she said smoothly. "Seventy very happy, passionate, amazing years. Dyson has always been my soulmate, after all. Even," she added with deliberate cruelty, "If sometimes I got confused and wasted time with… lesser people."

Lauren paled. "No one was forcing you to play with the unclean, you know," she said evenly. "And it's not like you haven't got thousands of years to play with, _experiment _with, since you've already tried a human and found it not as good. I bet you could get through most of the Fae population in that time."

"I'm faithful," Bo said through gritted teeth. "And you?"

"I've never been unfaithful," Lauren said hotly.

It wasn't exactly what Bo had been asking – she'd more meant to ask if Lauren was involved with anyone – but she went with it anyway. "Really? Nadia ring a bell?"

"She was in a coma!" Lauren protested.

"You still cheated on her," Bo said inexorably.

"As soon as she was awake, I was totally faithful to her."

Bo smirked. "Physically, maybe, but how about emotionally? You can't pretend you weren't a little unfaithful there, can you?"

"Well," Lauren said, her voice suddenly arctic again. "That was when I loved you and thought you cared about me as well. Thankfully, both those conditions are now cured, so I doubt I'll ever be in a situation to be unfaithful to someone again."

Bo winced. It wasn't that she'd really believed Lauren still loved her, she told herself. After all, the other woman had proved dramatically that she didn't love her nearly seventy years ago now. Whatever feelings were there were now gone. Long gone. She had Dyson and Lauren apparently had that woman, Mali whatever. She waited a second to recover, anyway, trying to meet Lauren's eyes.

Eventually Lauren raised her head and met Bo's stare straight on, her dark eyes just as beautiful and expressive as they'd been the last time Bo had kissed her.

"Lauren," Bo began, changing the subject totally. She had to know. She'd never fully believed Lauren was dead, not in her heart, no matter what Dyson had said. No matter what the facts had said. But she hadn't expected this. "How can you still be alive? How can you still be _young_?"


	7. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

_When Bo woke, she was the Dal. "Where's Lauren?" were the first words out of her mouth. "Is she okay? Is she _alive_?"_

"_You saved her, Bobo," Kenzi said soothingly. "S'all okay now."_

"_Where is she?"_

"_Human hospital," Trick said, entering from the front bar. He smiled to see Bo awake. "We couldn't put you there, since they might notice you aren't human, but they'll take good care of her. Hale and Dyson are with her – it took a lot of persuasion to get them to leave you, but I thought it best if someone was guarding Lauren."_

_Bo looked confused. "Trick thinks some Light Fae elders might get it into their heads that she's a security risk now," Kenzi explained helpfully. "They still think she's dead, but when they find out she isn't, they might assume she has grudge against the Fae. And her being in normal-people hospital…" Kenzi let it trail off._

"_Lots of people to tell," Bo nodded and tried to stand, only to find she wasn't even strong enough to push herself into sitting position. "Argh!"_

"_Rest," Trick said firmly. "Actually, we do need to talk first, though." He glanced at Kenzi. "Kenzi, could you go serve in the bar, please." When Kenzi started to walk out he thought of something and added, "And please, don't drink the profits!"_

"_What do we need to talk about?" Bo asked._

"_What you did. How did you bring Lauren back?" Trick looked very worried. "Bringing the dead back to life is not a succubus power. It's also not one of my powers, unless I'm writing in blood. You did something that should be impossible."_

"_I… don't know. I just kept pushing chi into her. I guess it healed her."_

"_She was dead. It shouldn't have healed her."_

_Bo tried to shrug but found her muscles were too weak to even manage that. "I guess it could be something I got from my father. Or I was just lucky. Or… you don't think this is like the lich?" Bo's eyes went frantic with horror. She finally managed to push herself into a sitting position. "Oh, no. I didn't… Lauren's not undead, is she?"_

"_I'm about to go check on her," Trick said soothingly, "You just rest, okay? Rest, Bo."_

"_No," Bo managed to reach out and grab his sleeve. "I need to see her. I need to know she's okay. I need to… talk to her…"_

"_I can pass on any messages you have," Trick assured her._

_Bo blushed a little. "Then…. Can you tell her… that I love her very, very much. And that I'm sorry about the things I said before… and that I made a mistake."_

_Trick stood very still. He realised exactly what Bo meant. "Bo. Are you sure?"_

"_I wish everyone would stop being so involved in my love life," Bo said sourly. "And yes, I'm sure," she flushed even more. "It's not that I don't care about Dyson. But seeing Lauren lying like that on the floor…"_

"_I'll tell her you love her," Trick said. Privately he thought that Bo's sudden passion for the doctor was motivated by fear of her dying. Seeing the body of someone you loved caused people to make rash, foolish choices, and say things they wouldn't normally say. But he knew that Bo loved Lauren, whether or not she would still want to be with her when the shock wore off._

"_And tell her I made a mistake," Bo insisted. "That I love her, and I made a mistake, and I want her." Bo swallowed, and her voice went small. "Please. Just tell her… there's nothing I want more than for her to stay."_

"_I'll tell her you love her," Trick repeated firmly. And with that Bo had to be content. "Get some rest now. I'll send Hale back to look after the way station so Kenzi can sit with you."_

_X_X_X_X_

_The hospital room was brightly lit. Everything was white, the walls and the sheets and the pale figure of Lauren on the bed. The only colour was the gold of Lauren's hair. She looked like sleeping beauty, lying out before them, pale and beautiful and frail. Trick felt a pang as he looked at her. Sometimes there was something almost fairy-like about Lauren's prettiness._

"_Hale, go back and take over at the Dal," Trick said. "No argument, Dyson. No one can know that Lauren's here, being guarded, and if Hale isn't seen for a while his family will come looking. They'll be worried he died in the chaos earlier."_

"_I'll call them," Hale argued, knowing his friend would want to be with Bo. "I can guard Lauren."_

"_No," Dyson said, surprising them both. "It's fine. Get back there. Kenzi will be glad to see you, I know."_

_Hale nodded reluctantly as he left. "Fine."_

_Trick waited until he was gone before turning to Dyson. "You look like you've got something on your mind."_

"_Hale didn't notice. Neither have the staff, yet, since she's been in the light the whole time," Dyson said darkly. "But my eyesight's pretty good, even in this form."_

"_What do you mean?"_

_Glancing around to make sure no one else was there, Dyson reached out and quickly flicked the light switch off. Trick gasped. Lauren was glowing, only lightly, but very obviously anyway. You couldn't blame it on moonlight or pale skin, that was for sure. It was a steady and clear luminescence that was otherworldly._

"_She's glowing," Trick breathed, reaching forward. Then he checked himself. "Interesting. I wonder what happened?"_

"_I'm more concerned with what's going to happen," Dyson said grimly. He switched the light back on._

_Trick understood immediately. "This is clearly Fae. Very clearly Fae. Lauren has just become a major security risk."_

"_We have to get her back to the Ash's compound," Dyson said._

"_No!" Trick sounded almost panicked for a second. "That's the last place we can take her."_

"_What? Why?"_

_Trick passed a weary hand over his eyes. "Think, Dyson. She's glowing. There are Fae that glow. Whether intentionally or not, Bo gave Lauren some Fae powers when she brought her back. It must be the overload of chi in her system doing it. If the Light Fae elders see it -"_

"_They are within their rights to arrest, or even execute Bo," Dyson realised. "Some of them are just looking for any excuse."_

"_They'll kill Lauren on sight as well," Trick sighed. "I'll have to do some tests, some old spells. There are ways we can find out what's wrong with her. Perhaps it will wear off. The effects of too much chi on humans are completely undocumented. Honestly, the amount of chi it sounds like Bo forced into her system should have killed her immediately."_

"_She was already dead."_

"_Well, killed her more. In fact, there are reports of too much chi killing Fae before. It's like putting an extra fifty litres of blood into someone's body," Trick thought about the gruesomeness of the analogy and winced. "Well, you know what I mean. It's a miracle Lauren's alive. We have to find out what's happening."_

_Dyson nodded. "I'll guard her for now. Are you going to tell Bo?"_

"_No. Bo needs rest. I'll just tell her Lauren's still asleep, which is true anyway."_

* * *

"It's a very long story, Bo, and from the sound of it we don't have much time," Lauren said, stalling. "What's wrong with Dyson? I might be able to tell you what's needed."

"I'm not leaving it alone," Bo warned, her voice shaking a little. "I thought you were dead. Or ancient." She subsided at Lauren's burning look. "Fine. Dyson. He, um, bleeds." Her heart couldn't seem to stop aching. She knew she'd been bitchy, even cruel before, but she hadn't been able to stop herself. The way Lauren was so… so unemotional, while she'd fallen to pieces, made her feel embarrassed that she still cared so much. And while she'd spent many years missing Lauren, and feeling sad, and even feeling guilty sometimes, she'd never really allowed herself to feel anger at the other woman. Because Lauren had been missing, possibly dead, and you couldn't get angry at someone when they were missing in action. She'd forced herself to only think of Lauren with nostalgia, to wish her well, and to pray that she was alive – she hadn't allowed herself to be selfish, to blow up, to say that it was all Lauren's fault. So now, seeing her, Bo was surprised that that was the most prominent emotion she felt. It wasn't the touching reunion she wanted. She was especially embarrassed that she'd broken down in Lauren's arms and all Lauren had thought to do was stab her with a needle – she'd been completely overwhelmed by seeing Lauren again and all Lauren had thought of was disabling a potential threat.

"More detail may be required," Lauren said with the same dry sense of humour she always used to have. Bo ached with memory and sadness under her anger. The anger still simmered, ready to flare up again at any moment, but for right now she allowed herself just to enjoy Lauren's company.

Even if she was tied to a chair.

"Bleeding out of his eyes, from under his fingernails," Bo listed, "Unconsciousness. Pale skin, low temperature. The new doctor says he's tacky – er, something to do with tacky."

"Tachycardia," Lauren supplied, resisting the urge to say that she agreed, Dyson was definitely tacky. "Has anyone else reported with the same condition?"

"A dead body was found with what looks like the same thing. Dyson was examining it when he got sick."

Lauren paused, looking worried. "Did it hit him very quickly? Bleeding immediately, unconsciousness within the first hour, but then relatively little change?"

"Yes!"

Lauren looked like she wanted to swear, but managed to restrain herself. "Nigoyo venom," she said tightly. "The Nigoyo were a rare species of Fae who died out many, many years ago. Dyson must have gotten too close to the corpse of someone poisoned with the dried form. The good news is that Dyson has several weeks, since it's designed to kill its victims slowly and pai – er, slowly. The bad news is that while there is an antivenom, it's closely guarded."

"Oh, yes," Mia re-entered the room, still smirking that little smirk as if she knew a joke they didn't. "Nigoyo is the poison of choice by a couple of high-ranking Dark Fae. They hold very closely to the antivenom, just in case they accidentally poison themselves, or their brothers poison them, or something like that. I do actually know a Dark Fae who I think has some of the antivenom."

"Well, that's good," Bo said.

"No, it's not. He drives a very hard bargain, I doubt he'll be thrilled to deal with you at all, since there's not much in life he wants," Mia said. "You know, I don't mean to be critical, but why is Bo still tied to a chair? I think we've agreed that we're all going to deal splendidly together. I'll give you the name of my Dark Fae contact and lend you my human, and in return your firm will do some pro bono work for me over the next few months."

"You know about my firm?"

Mia smiled like the cat who had the cream. "I'm the Argan. I know everything. And your firm could be very useful in my politics."

"I don't do assassinations," Bo said quickly. After a moment, Lauren moved behind her and started to untie her.

"Maybe, but I expect some of the people in your employ are less rigid in their morals. Besides, there are a lot of little jobs outside the Light Fae structure I could use assistance with." Mia smiled. "Anyway, you can have Lauren for, oh, a month or so. Long enough to get the antivenom, and for Lauren to assist your fiancé with his convalescence."

"_Mia_," Lauren said, stopping her efforts to untie Bo. "A month?" She sounded annoyed. "We, we need to talk."

"As you wish," Mia waved a hand in an airy way and followed Lauren into the other room.

"Um? Untying me? What about that?" Bo said to nobody in particular. She shook her hands and realised the bonds were just loose enough for her to pull them out. Immediately she stood and walked to the door, pressing her ear to it. Normally this wasn't her style but it seemed like the only way she could get information lately.

Lauren still sounded annoyed. "A month? Mia, no."

"Remember our deal, Lauren," Mia replied. "Her fiancé is Light Fae, correct?"

"Our deal didn't involve you lending me out like that."

"Tell me you don't want to," Mia dropped her voice a little and Bo couldn't hear any more. She pressed her eye to a crack in the door and nearly gasped at what she was seeing.

Mia leaned in and pressed a hot kiss on Lauren, who stood unmoving. Bo could see the transfer of energy as Mia used her power to seduce Lauren. Lauren's aura went hotter, but then she stepped back, panting as she fought off the effects. "Don't _do_ that," Lauren said loudly, and Mia said something in the same quiet voice as before in return, leaning in to speak into Lauren's ear.

Bo couldn't hear it but Mia was saying, "I thought you liked succubi. All these years of being about as sexual as a nun and I see you with her and you're lit up like a Christmas tree. Come on, if you let me use my powers on you fully…"

"No," Lauren said back just as quietly. "You know I'm still not… ready to be with someone else."

"After seventy years?"

Bo strained, but thankfully after a few muttered phrases – in which she caught the words, 'Christmas', 'powers', and 'years' – they raised their voices again.

"Your faithfulness is baffling to me," Mia drawled.

"I know, Mia," Lauren said with an actual smile.

"Though I suppose I do see what you see in her," Mia admitted. Bo felt a flare of jealousy. So Lauren was faithful to this Mali. Was with her. She wondered if they were in love.

Lauren chuckled in her quiet way. "Not even slightly. But that's not the point. The point is that I can't leave right now."

"Why? Because of your girl?" Mia rolled her eyes. "You said that having Mali around wouldn't slow you down or affect your ability to work."

"And it hasn't," Lauren shot back.

"Until now."

There was a second of both of them just breathing, then "Fine," Lauren said. "But be aware this is under protest. This could be dangerous to everyone involved."

"I don't see how," Mia rolled her eyes. "You know, even if she is your ex, you're getting very worked up over -" suddenly Mia's voice changed. It became more serious. "Oh. Oh. You don't overreact, Lauren, not ever, not in the whole time I've known you. She's not just your ex, is she? This is why you don't want to go back?"

"Mia."

"She did it, didn't she? She's the one who did this to you. I know I'm right," Mia's smile had totally vanished now. "Does she know? What she did?"

"No."

"Is she going to?"

"I don't know." There was a catch in Lauren's voice. "Well, maybe. I don't know. It wasn't on purpose. I don't know what she would do, how she'd react. It would be foolish to tell her, though. She always stirs up trouble, change -"

"Maybe change is a good thing."

"Not in this case," Lauren sighed, but her tone held some fondness. "She always tries to _fix_ things. In this case, things are not fixable. And only disaster can come out of any of this. I'll help her find the antivenom, make sure she gets the right thing, but I can't go back there with her. You know that. With or without the alibi, things will be risky. I could be… recognised."

"All right."

Bo managed to be back in the chair by the time they were in the room. She even managed to shove her hands back through the ropes so she still looked tied up, though she thought she'd definitely gotten some rope burn out of it. Lauren winced at the sight of it as she finished untying her. "You've hurt yourself," she said disapprovingly. "I'll get some cream."

"Thanks," said Bo, her sarcastic tone making it clear she hadn't forgotten who'd tied her to the chair in the first place. Lauren ignored her and started spreading the cream over the red marks.

"I'm going to take off now, sweetie," Mia said, looking concerned. "You'll be okay, right? Oh, and the name of my Dark Fae guy is Griff. I'll write down some of his favourite places. Watch out for his butler, he can be a little… overzealous."

"Thanks," Lauren said to Mia, but her eyes were on Bo as she spread cream on her wrist.

Bo felt like she was getting lost in Lauren's dark eyes. Her hands were so soft, stroking gently over Bo's wrists, raising goose bumps. And her face was so close. Bo could feel the gentle drag of her breath, see the flush rising her in her pale cheeks. Lauren's smell was like wildflowers – it had always been, even through the smell of disinfectant and bleach in her lab. Bo just wanted to bury her head in Lauren's hair and inhale the scent. She just wanted to pull Lauren closer and press her lips against the pulse she could see beating in Lauren's neck… the pulse that seemed to be getting wilder… she could hear Lauren's breath speeding up, too…

"Done," Lauren said breathlessly, pushing Bo away from her a little roughly. "Um, are you okay?"

"Yes," Bo said, feeling regret and relief running through her together. "Yes, I'm okay."

* * *

**I'm so grateful for all the nice reviews you guys have been giving me. This is my first time writing for the LG fandom and I didn't expect everyone to be so supportive and sweet. You guys are great.**

**Also, does it make me weird if a while back I sat down and worked out four or five perfectly logical ways that Lauren could live as long as Bo? Mayfly-December relationships are always so intrinsically depressing. This is one of the ones I didn't like as much, but it fit the way this story went much better than the others.**


	8. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

"_Is it all sorted?" Dyson said, his face hard._

"_Yes, it is. Is she awake?"_

"_For a few hours. She seems very healthy, keeps asking to see Bo," Dyson's wince was nearly undetectable._

_Trick managed a smile which wasn't very genuine. "Right. Bo asks about her too, but thankfully she's still too weak to move. It was hard to convince Kenzi not to come see her, though."_

"_I thought they didn't get along."_

_Trick shrugged. "Maybe they care about each other anyway." In his thousands of years, he'd learned that relationships were never as straightforward as people thought. Kenzi and Lauren might snipe at each other, and bicker occasionally, but that meant very little in the long run._

"_I can hear you," Lauren's quiet voice came floating into the hall._

_Trick entered. "Hello, Lauren. It's good to see you awake."_

_Lauren's intelligent eyes studied him. "It's been hours, but there's no one here but Dyson, and I'm very certain he's not here to bring flowers and a card. What's going on?"_

_Trick hesitated, but realised Lauren was too smart for lies or dissembling to have any practical purpose. "They think you're still sleeping. If they knew you were awake, they'd be here."_

_Lauren nodded, like she'd been expecting this. "And why do they believe I'm still asleep? Or, should I ask, why did you tell them that?"_

"_Because it would be dangerous for Bo to come see you," Trick said quietly. After a second's thought, he turned off the light switch._

_Most people would have screamed, or scratched at their skin, or gone into denial. Lauren just stared at her glowing skin with scientific curiosity. "Interesting. What happened?"_

"_Bo poured chi into you to bring you back," Trick said, keeping it simple. "A lot of chi. We don't know all the effects."_

"_But you think it's more than aesthetic?"_

"_I've tried some spells," Trick admitted, "But they all seem inconclusive. Whatever she did seems to have changed you somehow. You no longer register as human to the spells, but you don't seem to register as Fae either, not totally. If I had to guess, I'd say you probably have some powers, or something like that. Whatever she did... It should have killed you. I don't understand why it didn't."_

"_Huh," Lauren said, staring at her hand. She moved her fingers experimentally. "You think the chi somehow altered my cellular structure? Permanently?"_

"_I'm no scientist."_

"_I am. Can you bring me supplies? There are blood tests I can do, to start with."_

"_We'll get you somewhere with a lab," Trick promised. This was the part he'd been dreading._

_Lauren got it straight away, to his surprise. "You think Bo could be charged for this. Saving a human with her powers?"_

"_More for whatever else she did. Even if it was accidental."_

"_So your plan is to get me as far away as possible," Lauren guessed. "Until these effects wear off. A lot of the Fae have good eyesight, they'll spot the glowing straight away. They'll know something was done to me, and Bo is the obvious suspect."_

"_I've organised to get you to Europe. Dyson will guard you on the way," Trick said. "I've also organised a bank account and a place to lay low. You should drain the account once you get there, to ensure you can't be traced. It might only take a couple of days to fade, and you'll be able to come back soon, but it's best not to take chances."_

"_Because it might take years. Or forever," Lauren supplied, spotting what he wasn't saying. "I understand, Trick. Bo is your priority. She's my priority too. Are you going to tell her where I've gone?" She didn't allow herself to think too deeply about the big changes that were coming her way. If she thought about what was happening, she'd crack. A cold mask over her emotions, concentrating on facts and practicality, had always kept her going before._

_It disturbed her that she couldn't really remember how she had ended up in this hospital bed. She remembered seeing the Fae on the cameras. Then she had barricaded herself in the lab, and she could sort of recall the noise of the blows on the door and the roars of the mob. Then there had only been pain, darkness blocking out the lights, people all around her, the noise of hatred and violence. The pain had been everywhere, completely overtaking her ability to think, to reason. She didn't think she would be able to recognise any of the Fae who attacked her if she saw them on the street – it was all a blur of pain and fear, no real concise memories. The doctor part of her resented that, just as it resented that she had been healed so thoroughly that she wouldn't even be able to work out what had happened from her wounds. But the rest of her, the most human part, realised that that was the best gift she could have been given. She'd seen victims of beatings, muggings, even rapes before in her work. She knew that the mindset of victim, the power of that intense a fear, wasn't one that was easy to let go of. But she'd been spared that by the blurry unreality of her memories and the undamaged state of her body. It was more like a disturbing dream than anything else._

_And she owed that to Bo, too. "Well? Will you tell her?"_

_Trick smiled weakly. "I don't know. You know Bo… she might charge after you, insisting it's wrong that anyone would punish you just for inadvertently being given some Fae powers, especially when we don't even know what they are. Also…"_

"_You think I could die when whatever this is wears off, and you don't want to put her through that," Lauren said, once again saying what Trick hadn't wanted to. "Listen, don't tell Bo. If she makes a fuss she could get herself killed. I'll sort it out." I'll sort it out? She thought to herself, wondering why she'd said that. It sounded ridiculous. You sorted out paperwork, or electricity bills, or a strange smell coming from the fridge. This was beyond being able to sort out. But she'd had to say something. Trick seemed so uncertain, so unlike himself. She had to be the certain one, the practical one. "When am I going?"_

"_As soon as possible. Dyson will take you back to your place so you can pack," Trick promised, his heart feeling heavy. He looked older than usual. "I hope you come back soon. Bo loves you. She'll miss you," he hesitated and added, "We all will."_

_X_X_X_X_

_Lauren finished her packing five minutes earlier than she'd said she would. She'd told Dyson she'd meet him outside after she'd finished, and had deliberately said it would take longer. After all, she had to write her goodbye to Bo._

Dear Bo,

_Lauren paused. What should she write? Well, there was the obvious._

I love you. You know that. And it's for your safety I'm doing this. I know that will make you angry – there's nothing that annoys you more than all of us trying to take care of you, even though you'd do the same for us without even thinking about it.

_Lauren changed 'your safety' to just 'you'. After all, she wasn't supposed to tell Bo why she was leaving. She knew Bo might chase after her, trying to fight for her rights and fix everything once again. Bo was always trying to fix everything._

_But the fact was, maybe this was a blessing in disguise. She could flee, be free of the Light Fae for good. She wouldn't have to spend the rest of her life watching Bo and Dyson, either. She wasn't looking forward to that at all. If she was honest, she'd only been staying really because she thought, dimly, in a small corner of her brain, that Bo might change her mind. But her temporary death had somehow energised her. Life was too short to pine away for someone who loved someone else._

I'm leaving so that you and Dyson can be happy together without me getting in the way, and maybe so I can be happy too. You know, when you said that if things didn't work out with Dyson maybe we'd have a chance I was offended. Perhaps I should still be offended, but for a moment I'm laying aside my pride. When I get to wherever I'm going, I'll set up an email address – lauren_on_the_run at hotmail dot com.

_Lauren smiled, thinking to herself that Bo would probably like that address._

I'm going to Europe for a while. If it ever comes to pass that you need my help, or that you and Dyson really don't work out and you miss me, email me and let me know. I'll always love you, Bo.

_Lauren frowned at how pathetic that sounded. Like all that Bo had to do was whistle and she'd come running. But she'd said she would set aside her pride, and she had to keep to that. Plus, if Bo ever did write and ask her to come back, she'd be thrilled. Of course, she didn't know if she'd be able to come back or not, since that depended on her condition, but if Bo really did want to be with her, she was sure they would find a way. If Bo hadn't chosen Dyson, Lauren wasn't sure she would leave even for this. Possibly she'd be trying to find another way, though she couldn't think of any offhand. As it was, though – she'd been considering leaving anyway. Perhaps it was a good thing that now she forced to._

I know I've made a lot of mistakes. I've betrayed your trust, and kept things from you, and expected more from you then you were willing to give. I'm sorry for all of that. I hope you'll remember me. I'm certain I'll never forget you.

Good luck, Bo, and be happy.

Much love,

Lauren

_Lauren folded the note carefully. It was inadequate, but then, any note would be. At least it gave Bo a way to contact her, even if Lauren couldn't come back here. After some thought, she placed it under her pillow, with the Ash's necklace on top of the pillow. As soon as Bo saw that she would look underneath._

_Then she surveyed the cold apartment one last time, turned around, and left._

* * *

"So here we are," Lauren said, staring up at the big house. It was almost comically out of place in the street of shacks, not just in size and cleanliness but in design as well. It was old English, like a palace, even though the bricks looked recent. It looked like someone had cut out a photo from a design magazine and stuck it in the middle of a World Vision advert.

"Here we are," Bo echoed. The trip here had not been comfortable. It had taken two days, two dusty, annoying days. Mia had organised for them to borrow a jeep – so out-dated and old that it needed to be charged quite often, which in this area was extremely difficult. To conserve power they'd had to drive very slowly and use it on its most conservative settings, which were uncomfortable and loud. The electric hum had not made conversation possible. And Bo had a lot of questions she wanted to ask, though she doubted she'd be getting the answers anytime soon. They hadn't stopped, simply switching places so they could take turns resting. As a result the skin under both of their eyes were bruised and exhausted-looking.

Lauren gestured towards the wide double doors. "So do you want to… I mean, it's your mission."

"Mission? Who am I, Tom Cruise?"

A small smile lit Lauren's face. "Do you realise, in most conversations, no one would know who Tom Cruise is anymore? Or Mission Impossible?"

"One time I mentioned attending the opening of the twelfth Star Wars movie and the girl I was talking to asked the name of my plastic surgeon," Bo replied. She returned the smile. "It feels strange, to be so old and so young at the same time. Which reminds me, how are you -"

Lauren stepped forward and knocked on the door roughly before Bo could complete the sentence.

"You know, we're going to have to hash this out sometime," Bo said gently. She could remember all the reasons why she should be angry and Lauren, but right now she was too tired to really maintain the anger. There was also a kind of melting happiness. A large part of didn't want to question why she'd gotten to see Lauren again, and just wanted to be grateful for the gift.

The door swung open. "Yes?"

"Here to see Griff, on the authority of the Argan," Bo said briskly.

The Fae eyed her coldly. "Are you referring to Griffon Charles Lord Buesbury the fourth?"

"Possibly," Lauren said doubtfully. She and Bo exchanged glances. "I mean, yes."

The Fae acted like she hadn't spoken, staring at Bo for the answer, probably because Lauren was human. "Yes," Bo said, to save time. She dampened down her annoyance, forcing herself not to rudely defend Lauren. After all, it was Lauren who'd chosen to run away from this crazy world, only to rejoin it at her first opportunity. If she wanted a defence she should supply it herself. It immediately made her feel bad, though Lauren accepted it without demur.

"And you are?"

"Bo."

"Your full name."

"Isaboe Jennifer Divinity Catherine Woodsbury," Bo improvised. She heard Lauren's quiet snort.

The man eyed her up and down. "Come in," he said eventually.

"I already hate this guy," Bo muttered, following the Fae down the hall.

"I can hear you, madam," the butler said.

Bo smiled sweetly. "And yet you couldn't hear Lauren. Your hearing is very inconsistent."

"Actually, about that. Could your human wait outside in the hall? We just had the carpets done."

Lauren's hand shot out and grabbed Bo's arm before the succubus could attack. Bo released her grip on her knife after a few seconds. It was just the unthinking way the man had said it – exactly like he'd been telling a dog lover that their dog couldn't eat at the table here. As if to him that was exactly the same. "I'll wait," Lauren said, "It's fine, Bo."

"No, it's not. She's coming in with me," Bo addressed the butler.

His nostrils flared. "You won't make this one small allowance?"

"I'm already allowing you to keep all your body parts attached. I think that's enough allowances for one day."

The butler let them both enter, though Lauren saw his wince as she walked in. "Miss Isaboe Jennifer Divinity Catherine Woodsbury, sent by the Argan," he announced.

"And Doctor Lauren Lewis," Bo added insistently. She smiled coldly at the man inside. "Hello, Griff."

"Hello," Griff was a small, portly man, quite old, and visibly completely unthreatening. He looked almost jolly and surveyed Lauren with as much interest as Bo. "And what does the Argan want of me today? Good heavens, it's been an age since I've had visitors."

"The Argan informed us you have an item that we require," Lauren said slowly. "A rare antivenom."

"Nigoyo," he guessed. "That's the only antivenom I have, really. Well, well. I heard that poison was making a comeback. And what will you give me in return? It's very valuable."

Bo coughed. "I'm the owner and director of a private detective and problem solving firm. I'm sure there's plenty we could do for you. Also, I, and many of the people working there, are unaligned, so we can work outside the bounds of normal Fae politics."

"You're the succubus? Don't look so surprised, Isaboe. Surely by now you know the world is watching, or at least the Fae part of it. I'm not sure if I know of the doctor, though."

"I'm an emissary for the Argan," Lauren said, quiet but firm. Her tone did not invite further questions, and after eyeing her for a moment, Griff nodded.

"I see. As it happens, I do have one task which I consider comparable in value to Nigoyo antivenom," Griff studied them dispassionately. "I would quite like you to kill my brother."

There was a long pause before Bo responded. "What? Are you serious?"

"Perfectly."

"I'm not an assassin! Why does everyone think I'm an assassin? I don't kill people!"

"Well, it wouldn't be a _permanent_ death, and it would be for his own good," Griff said. "He doesn't get enough rest. I just want him to relax more."

Bo spluttered some more. "_What_?"

Griff sighed. "We're Nashin, Miss Isaboe."

Bo looked at Lauren in mute enquiry. "Fae distantly descended from the phoenixes of legend," Lauren said. "When they die they remake themselves and start again as children. If they go too long without dying they feel quite sick and tired. It can take them up to ten years to remake themselves each time."

"You're a very educated woman, doctor," Griff said approvingly. "Well, the problem with my brother is he's gotten himself into a rather high position. If he dies, even just for a couple of years, he'll have to start all over again when he gets back. And he's a bit power mad."

"Why not just _not_ kill him?" Bo said, confused.

Griff waved his hand. "The longer he goes without remaking himself, the sicker he'll get. If he leaves it much longer it will do permanent damage, which will affect his health for the rest of all his lives. All I'm trying to do is help him. He's my younger brother and I'm really quite fond of him. All I ask is that you kill him, burn the pieces, and bring the ashes here." He beamed at them as if that had been a perfectly reasonable sentence.

Bo still looked horrified. She turned to Lauren again, silently asking her opinion. Lauren shrugged. "Well, it wouldn't be cruel, not if they actually are Nashin. Or even wrong, really. Well, maybe it would be wrong. Like disregarding a DNR. But it wouldn't be harmful."

"All right," Bo surrendered. It wasn't like she had much choice, anyway. "Where do I find him?"

"He's the Muhingo," Griff said. "I don't suppose you've heard of him, but he considers himself quite important in this area. I don't understand at all what made him go into politics. The rest of us have always been gentlemen of leisure." He sniffed. "Much more fun."

"The Muhingo?" Bo said weakly.

"I should warn you," Griff continued, "He may not make it easy for you to kill him. Poor fellow has some sort of phobia about it. So he has a lot of bodyguards."

"I know," said Bo. An idea was coming to her. "But I have a way past them. Because I have something he wants. The White Ghost."

X_X_X_X

"You don't have to do it," Bo said.

They were in one of the many rooms in Griff's palatial home. He'd helpfully agreed to put them up for the night, thrilled they were going to complete his task for him. Apparently he found the thought of dealing with his brother himself morbid, and had been looking for someone willing to take on the Muhingo for some time. He'd even allowed Lauren to run tests to prove he was a Nashin, though Lauren had cautioned that it didn't prove the Muhingo was. If it were possible she would check when they were there.

There was a blanket on the floor with a rather flat pillow that Bo had immediately realised was meant for Lauren, so she wouldn't contaminate the beds with her humanity. Her hands had shook with anger as she picked them up and moved them onto the wide, fluffy canopy bed intended for her use.

Lately Bo felt angry all the time.

"I mean, it wasn't in the list of what you have to do," Bo continued. "All the Argan told you to do was identify if I was being given the real antivenom. I shouldn't even have suggested the plan."

Lauren smiled. "It's alright. Of course I'll help."

"Right." Bo went to the window, suddenly feeling suffocated by the past. The echoes of Lauren saying things like that to her before. All the times Lauren had said she'd help, and always followed through, until one day she wasn't there and didn't follow through. She pulled open the window.

"Bo!" Lauren said, but it was too late. Most of the candles had already gone out.

"Stupid old-fashioned Fae and their -" Bo started to grumble as she turned around, before shutting up. "Lauren. You're _glowing_."

"Yes." Lauren left it short. Once again the cool, dismissive professional.

In one controlled movement, Bo grabbed the candle and threw it hard against the wall. It broke and bounced off in four pieces, one of which broke a vase. "Tell me the truth. Tell me what's going on. _Now_." Bo growled.

"Bo -"

"Please," Bo said, furious and desperate at the same time. "God, Lauren, what do you want me to do? To say? Don't you trust me at all? What's going on? How did this happen?"

"Sit down," Lauren said softly, reaching out a hand for Bo. "Sit down. I'll tell you. I just don't know where to start."

"At the start, duh," Bo said, sounding very like Kenzi for once.

"Well then," Lauren paused. "I guess it starts with you. That day, the day when I almost died -"

"You did die."

"Really?" Lauren looked surprised. "No one told me that. I think. Anyway, the chi you forced into me – you pushed too much in. It overwhelmed the dying cells – well, dead cells I suppose – filling them with life. But my system, a human system, isn't designed to deal with that much life. My body had to – adjust – to deal with all the chi. It stimulated whatever it is that produces our life force, pushing it into over-drive. I don't know exactly how it worked, but I'd estimate that my body now produces more than three times as much chi as it should."

"So you can heal? Like me?"

"Not really," Lauren said, conscientiously correct as always, "It's more that my natural healing process is spread up. If I was to cut myself, I wouldn't heal before your eyes, but I might heal in a few hours." She thought for a second, then added, "I find my patients heal faster, too. I think maybe I give off some excess chi when I touch them."

Bo stared at her. This was a lot to take in. "So that's why you haven't aged…"

"The chi seems to combat aging, from what I've observed, as well as giving me a strange luminescence which has surprisingly not dimmed yet." Lauren agreed. "But I want to stress I have no idea why this happened. I've done as many tests as I can, but I still don't understand it at all. Chi is very mystical."

"Christ, Lauren," Bo struggled to wrap her head around it. "Is this why you left? To study this?"

"Among… other reasons, yes," Lauren said quietly, and they could both feel the ache of things unsaid between them. Lauren was thinking about that letter, that craven, pathetic letter where she'd all but begged Bo to contact her if she ever wanted her. And Bo never, ever had, because she'd had Dyson. They were engaged, for god's sake. And yet, right now, sitting next to Bo with both of them dirty and muddy and exhausted, all she could think about was how beautiful Bo was. The fire in her bright eyes, the soft skin of her breasts and stomach, the way she moved, so graceful and confident…

Bo, on the other hand, thought about herself shaking Lauren's dead body, begging her to stay. And how in the end what she'd done to make her stay had forced her to leave. She thought about her shouted declaration of love. And about how Lauren had left, without a word, as soon as Trick told her Bo loved her. Bo had always thought of it as revenge – that because Bo had chosen Dyson first, when she chose Lauren, the doctor had gotten revenge by not allowing her that choice. She'd thought that was why Lauren had taken off so suddenly.

"Couldn't you have studied this at home?" Bo said, her voice unexpectedly small.

Lauren nearly laughed. "Because no one would have blinked to see the human, the person they all knew as human, glowing in the dark? Healing too fast? A human with Fae powers? They would have killed me as soon as they noticed, and they would have noticed fast." She reached forward, grabbed the matches, and relit the candles Bo had blown out, apart from the one in pieces.

"So that's why you said you couldn't go back to help Dyson," Bo realised. "Lauren, it was decades ago, no one remembers you!"

Lauren's face went suddenly expressionless, and Bo realised exactly what she'd said. "I didn't mean -" she began.

"It's fine," Lauren said, her voice cool. "It's completely fine."

When Bo spoke again, her voice was even smaller. "Do you hate me?"

That shocked Lauren so much her face lost its expressionless mask. "What? Why would I hate you?"

"For making you… you know. Not human. Forcing you into being a fugitive."

"In the choice between fugitive and dead body, for the record, I choose fugitive every time," Lauren said dryly. "Besides, Bo, I could never hate you. Ever." She leaned forward to hug the other woman, and then remembered why it was a bad idea to hug Bo.

Bo's body was hot against hers, burning hot. It felt like the heat from her shot into Lauren, shooting through her blood like lightning. Her full, heavy breasts were pressed against Lauren's smaller pair, squashing into her, immediately causing her nipples to harden against her thin robe. Waves of heat flushed her face as she remembered, suddenly and vividly, exactly how Bo's breasts looked – the smooth, warm skin, the puckered nipples, the way they moved when Bo writhed in the throes of passion, the heaviness of them in her hands, the way Bo gasped her name when she touched them, when she pinched and stroked and licked…

She raised her head with a gasp and found herself looking directly into Bo's dark eyes. They were so deep, so hot, it was like drowning in pools of melted dark chocolate. And her knowing expression was both infuriating and arousing: the most erotic thing, Lauren remembered, about getting turned on by Bo, was that she knew you were turned on. And you knew she knew. Her sexy confidence, her absolute sureness, was both maddening and irresistible. Bo quirked her eyebrow, smirking, and then gasped when Lauren pressed her body even harder against Bo's so that Bo could feel her stiff nipples against her.

The even better thing about being turned on by a succubus was the moment you surprised them, and got them to reveal how desperately turned on they were too…

Lauren couldn't have said who acted first, but suddenly they were wound around each other so closely she couldn't have said where Bo's body started and hers ended. Her mouth was on Bo's, over Bo's, her tongue inside Bo's mouth sliding against the succubus' tongue, which traced wicked little patterns, moving between aggressive and passive and sometimes strangely both at the same time. Lauren's hands tangled in Bo's dark hair, fisting in the waves that felt like silk. Their mouths moved in perfect unison, as well as their bodies, like it was a dance they'd been dancing together for as long as either could remember. The heat of Bo's lips there, the caress of Lauren's hand there, the hot press of a thigh, oh God, there, _please_.

It couldn't have last longer than thirty seconds before they were recalled to themselves by the slam of a door. They sprang apart like they were teenagers caught necking by their parents. "The master asked me to make up an extra bedroom for your human," the butler said impassively, as if he hadn't walked in on them almost mounting each other in a dark room. Bo wondered feverishly if he'd deliberately slammed the door behind him as he entered, to stop them. But then, he didn't look very disturbed by it – to continue the pet analogy, he looked like he would if saw a dog-owner using baby talk with their pet. As if it was something embarrassing and worth of disdain, but very normal anyway.

"A normal bedroom? Not a sheet on the floor?" Bo said, trying to regain her breath and not look at Lauren and study Lauren for her reaction all at the same time.

"A normal bedroom. The master was very specific about the respect owed to the servant of the Argan," he coughed and went po-faced. "Of course, if it is not required -"

"It's required," Lauren said, lacking her usual composure. She was red-faced and panting, her lips swollen and her eyes overbright.

"Lauren," Bo said urgently as Lauren went to leave. "Listen, we need to -"

Lauren made herself smile, that cool, reasonable smile that Bo hated. "It's all right, Bo. I understand. You were hungry, and I came too close. I'll, I'll get my injections out of the car, alright? I use some of the ones I developed for you on Mia sometimes, so I should still have some. Okay?"

"Okay," Bo echoed, feeling more confused then she had for many years. She let herself flop back onto the bed, her mind racing with images of what almost happened.

* * *

**Ohhhh God. I am sooo drunk right now. Strawberry kiwi vodka drink, why you do this to me? I'm fairly sure this isnt to mispelled, but I've already made an idiot of myself at least four times this evening. I hope my final check of the contecnt of this chapter was suficient. If there's many errorrs, tell me. Hope you guys like this anyways.**


	9. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

"_Goodbye, Lauren," Dyson said, unable to identify his own feelings. Surprisingly, he thought he was going to miss her a bit, perhaps a response to fighting side by side, or maybe out of compassion for Bo after seeing her breakdown at Lauren's body. Mostly, though, he was relieved. Bo was his now, clear and unchallenged. Of course, she had been before, since she'd chosen him, but now it would be even better without the constant competition. In the back of his mind he'd feared the thought of Lauren there, year after year, comforting his mate when they fought, batting her eyelashes at Bo, dripping poison into her ear about how she could do better, have better. As if the human was anything special at all. Kenzi, now, that was an interesting human – rather like a wacky, constantly misbehaving pet you couldn't help but love anyway. Lauren, on the other hand, he couldn't see what was so lovable about – she was useful, of course, but really just a bundle of science and neuroses._

"_Goodbye, Dyson," Lauren managed a professional smile for him and went to board the plane. She didn't expect a hug goodbye, and she didn't get one. They simply exchanged nods and went their separate ways._

_Dyson drove back towards the Dal feeling like a great weight had been lifted off him. He was somewhat surprised at how easily Lauren had left. If it had been him, he would have fought – Bo needed a fighter, after all. He definitely wouldn't have left without at least saying goodbye –_

_Dyson frowned. No one would leave without at least saying goodbye. Especially not a human. They always needed things said – whining on about their problems incessantly (Dyson didn't recognise the hypocrisy of his thoughts, and if someone pointed out to him that he spent a fair amount of his time brooding, he would have been genuinely confused they thought it was the same: his were _real_ problems, after all)._

_So. Lauren must have left some kind of message. He wondered if she'd followed the plan not to tell Bo about what she might have done when reviving the doctor. On impulse he turned the car towards Lauren's apartment. It was his duty to protect his mate – if Lauren had left something designed to put Bo in danger, he had to know. For example, what if she'd written everything down, so that Bo ended up following her to Europe and making a big fuss that would get them all killed?_

_It didn't take him long in the apartment to smell out the message. He read the thing, lip curling at the message. It was so – so _saccharine_. How could Bo, supposedly an intelligent person, really fall for Lauren's I'm-so-sweet-and-normal act, even in the face of constant contradiction? Wishing them well? Wanting them to be happy? Lauren would never write that. Which, he suddenly thought, could be the point. Perhaps this letter was supposed to subtly hint to Bo that she was writing under duress, and needed to be rescued. Or perhaps she wanted Bo to think of Lauren as the bigger person, and realise she'd made a mistake._

_Either way, there was some game-playing involved. If Bo read this, she would probably instantly email Lauren, begging her to come home. Where Lauren's new glow would be noticed, and both women would end up dead. Or Bo would ransack Europe looking for Lauren, making a massive fuss, and both women would be killed. Or Bo could organise by email to meet Lauren there, and go into hiding with her – prompted by her need to rescue people, rather than by her supposed love for Lauren, Dyson assured himself – but Bo could never really be in hiding. A succubus, with her reputation, her allies and enemies? Someone would recognise her soon, the elders would set people following her, one of them would recognise Lauren, and both women would be killed._

_It was really Dyson's duty to remove the letter, for the protection of his mate. They were a family. By common wolf bonds, he was supposed to be Bo's guardian, her other half. By that logic the letter was to him as much as it was to Bo – and as the alpha, it should be his decision what to do with it anyway._

_Once he was outside the apartment, he took out matches and burned the letter, allowing the ashes to fall to the ground. It occurred to him that Lauren's new glow could vanish soon, and she could come home, but then he realised she probably wouldn't – even the doctor would have too much pride to come back if Bo never contacted her after that touching letter. And besides, from what he'd seen standing guard, the glow showed no sign of dying. It could be years. And even if Lauren did come back, and tell tales to Bo? Well, their relationship was strong. They were soulmates. Bo would forgive him, in time._

_His actions justified, at least in his own mind, Dyson stored Lauren's necklace in his pocket and got into the car._

_X_X_X_X_

"_Are you sure this is what Lauren wants?" Trick said. He'd known Dyson for years, and knew he was honourable, but this didn't ring right._

"_Yes," Dyson said. "She left the necklace for Bo as her goodbye message."_

_Trick shook his head. "All right, then. Let's go." He pasted a comforting smile on his face as they stepped through to Bo's room. As soon as she'd felt well enough they'd moved her to her own home. It had had the thankful side effect of distracting everyone from Lauren as they rushed to make the place accessible for Bo in her weakened state._

"_Trick hello. Kenzi's just gone out to get more hot chips," Bo said, smiling at the sight of him. "And… oh… Dyson. Hello, Dyson," Bo's smile faded a little. She was well aware she was going to have to have an uncomfortable conversation with him soon, and cursed herself for having agreed to be in a relationship with him again. He'd just seemed so hopeful, and she did care about him. There was no doubt about it, she'd screwed up. Epically._

"_We're here about Lauren," Trick said uncomfortably._

_Bo's smile brightened considerably. "Oh, is she feeling better? Can she come see me? Or do you think I'm well enough to go -"_

"_Lauren's feeling very well," Dyson said, and paused. "So well the hospital let her go."_

"_Fantastic! Where is she?"_

"_That's the thing. It seems like once they released her…" Trick trailed off so Dyson stepped in._

"_Her apartment's been packed up. It looks like she's left town." _

_Bo's smile vanished completely. "What? Why? Did you tell her -" she turned to stare at Trick, looking puzzled and hurt._

_Trick coughed. "I told her how much _we all_ cared about her," he said in gentle warning, giving Bo a speaking glance, implying that he'd told Lauren exactly how Bo had felt about her, but simply had too much delicacy to mention it in front of her mate. And he had told Lauren that Bo loved her, he assured himself. He just hadn't made as clear as he could have. But what did it matter? When Lauren got back, which he absolutely believed she would, then if Bo still felt the same she could tell Lauren then. Telling her now, as she was leaving, would only have been cruel._

"_I don't understand," Bo said._

_Dyson held up the necklace. "She left this. I imagine for you. Perhaps it's a message."_

"_A message?"_

"_That she's free now. That she wants to be free." Then he said, eyes never leaving Bo, "Perhaps it's a message of farewell."_

* * *

"Are you sure about this?"

"Yes."

"Are you sure you're sure?"

"Bo, we've been over this," Lauren said as patiently as she could. "It was your idea, I don't know why you're suddenly against it. You've taken me places as back-up before."

"Seventy years ago," Bo pointed out. "And every time, _every time_, you nearly got killed."

"We all nearly got killed every time," Lauren managed to dredge a smile from somewhere. "Tie that tighter, or they'll notice my wrists aren't properly bound."

"I can't believe you've got a nickname as cool as the White Ghost," Bo said.

Lauren raised her eyebrows. "The White Ghost? That's not a good nickname. For one thing, all ghosts are supposed to be white. For another thing, it makes me sound like Casper. Which is yet another pop culture reference that is now so old that grandparents don't know it."

"When we get back we'll have to go to a bunch of movies, learn all the new pop culture things," Bo said.

"Bo," Lauren began to say she wouldn't be going back, then gave up. There was simply no point in arguing about it.

Bo rapped on the door sharply. "Muhingo!" she yelled. "I found the unaligned Fae you were looking for!" Inwardly, she admitted to herself that this was perhaps not her most amazing plan yet. "I want my reward!"

Instantly they were surrounded by bodyguards. Bo didn't recognise any of them – perhaps they were another shift. They searched both women thoroughly, finding nothing. Bo tried to use her powers to control them and was surprised to see there was no effect at all, none. Then the guards formed a square around the succubus and her supposed prisoner, escorting them up the hall politely but with a definitely threatening vibe. "Thanks," Bo said. "The Muhingo will really want to see me."

The words were barely out of her mouth when they were escorted into a wide room. Bo noticed, panicking, that it wasn't the room she'd met the Muhingo in before. It was smaller but longer, so that the Muhingo was metres away from her when the guards came to a stop.

"I will, will I?" The Muhingo said slowly. He looked even sicker than the last time Bo had seen him. His skin now bore a distinctive yellowish pallor.

"I brought you the White Ghost," Bo said. She wondered if she could reach him in time. In the other room, meeting like before, the plan would have worked without issue. Last time he'd sent most of the bodyguards away, and had leaned in very close to her – she could have reached out and grabbed his neck, threatening to break it until the other bodyguards let her out, then killing him once she was safely away. The distance between them now made that unlikely.

Last time she'd also been able to affect the bodyguards around her. This time she could see their auras, and they seemed to have no sexual desire at all. "Your guards…" she began uncertainly.

"Phisteans," the Muhingo smiled his slow, horrible smile. "They reproduce by asexual reproduction. It's the sort of precaution you take when you are informed that a succubus has been hired to assassinate you."

"Who told you that?" Bo said, valiantly trying to keep it up. "I'm just bringing in your problematic unaligned Fae, that's all." She looked to Lauren for help, but Lauren was busy staring at one of the guards, wide-eyed.

The Muhingo laughed. "You seriously think I let you run about like a wild dog for no reason? I thought there was distinct possibility you'd find my White Ghost, so I sent a few men to follow you. Imagine my shock when they followed you to my brother's house." He waved a hand at Lauren. "Take her away. The long-term dungeons, please. This one," his eyes came to rest on Bo, "This one I think we'll take to the short-term dungeons." He addressed Bo again, "They smell a bit worse, but they are a lot more interesting, and no one's ever made it through longer than a week."

"Your brother's just trying to help," Bo tried.

The Muhingo snorted. "Help? The old fool says I'm insane. He thinks me avoiding dying is affecting my mental faculties. When really, I don't see why my people should ever have to die, even temporarily."

Lauren was dragged out of the room as Bo watched helplessly. "Please," she said, not sure what else to say. "Lauren's innocent." An idea struck her. "Actually, she's not even the White Ghost! She's a human, she works for the Argan, she's a doctor -"

"Nice try," the Muhingo cackled. "I have a list of all the humans officially owned by the Argan, the same as she has a list of all the ones officially owned by me. That woman is not on there." He turned to the guards again. "The dungeons. Now."

"You're completely insane," Bo spat at him as she was dragged away. "And your name is just _stupid!_"

X_X_X_X

The Muhingo sat in thought for a long time after they were gone. Though he was somewhere on the other side of insane, and he was very definitely evil, he wasn't a stupid man. In fact he had a very good memory and was excellent with faces, as well as with connecting the dots. "Bring me a phone," he said suddenly. One of his guards leapt to find him one. With shaky hands he keyed in a number he hadn't used for several decades now. "Evony?"

A blast of rude words and phrases met him.

"I think it's time for us to repair our working relationship," the Muhingo said smoothly. "After all, we are on the same side. I know I may have stabbed you in the back _a little_ in that trade deal, but spawn was hard to come by that year."

More invectives followed.

"No, listen to me," the Muhingo interrupted her. "It's a bit of good luck. For who? For us both! I just happened to be looking through the list of people wanted by the Dark Fae the other day, and I think someone you posted on at least fifty years ago has popped up. A blonde, skinny doctor, name of Lauren."

Evony spoke again, not sounding any nicer.

"What do you mean, she's supposed to be dead? She's very definitely not dead. I'm not trying to scam you again. I swear! She just turned up here, with that dark-haired, mouthy succubus -"

Evony's voice suddenly got a lot more conciliatory.

"I thought you might be interested," the Muhingo gloated.

X_X_X_X

Bo tried to break the bars again. It hadn't worked the last fifty-two hits, but she didn't yet have a better plan.

Stupid! So stupid, to think it would just be as easy as marching in. She'd endangered herself and she'd endangered Lauren. She'd even endangered Dyson, lying in a hospital bed back home, though she'd forgotten about that for a little while.

Bo bit her lip and made a mental note to spend more time worrying about Dyson. It was just because she was busy, and overemotional from seeing Lauren again, that she wasn't frantic with worry. She was sure of that.

She hit the bars again. They resolutely failed to show any signs of damage or weakening. "Shit!"

"Language," came a familiar voice from the darkness. Lauren entered the dungeons, with one of the stout bodyguards behind her. She held up a shining key.

"Lauren?" Bo gasped. "How did you -?"

"Larry here's an old patient of mine," Lauren bestowed a smile on Larry that Bo wished was directed at her. "I treated him for heart problems for a few years."

"I'm 'mazed you remember me, Doc," Larry said, in a shy, high-pitched voice that didn't suit his massive body at all. "'S almost twenty-five years ago."

"Only twenty-three, if I recall correctly," Lauren said with another warm smile, opening Bo's cage door. "Larry has kindly agreed to get us out of here."

"Me 'n my fam'ly are already a bit tired of this job," Larry confided. "This guy, he likes torture 'n things like that. Once I had a chance t' talk with 'm, they said fair enough I owed the Doc abit. We're takin' off."

Bo marvelled at Lauren's skills. "So you're going to help us -" she began.

"Phisteans aren't violent except when defending people," Lauren said, as if of course Bo ought to know that. Bo just went along with it.

"Oh. Of course. Thanks for all your help. Does that mean there's only us and the Muhingo left in here?" Larry smiled awkwardly and took off, leaving it to Lauren to answer Bo's questions. It was understandable that he'd thought they were directed at Lauren, since Bo could barely take her eyes off her. In the dimness of the dungeon, the glowing doctor looked more like an angel then ever.

"There's a few of the old guards left," Lauren said, "But with your powers that shouldn't really be an issue. And I suppose that means the rest of this should be easy. I still have the drugs, I can help to-"

Like hell, Bo thought. It was only luck that the Muhingo hadn't decided to have the guards kill Lauren immediately. If there were more out there, who wouldn't protect Lauren, than undoubtedly it was safer for her if she stayed behind bars, at least temporarily. Bo had an idea. "I think I've hurt my ankle," she said thoughtfully, limping a little as she left the cell.

Lauren's doctor instincts were too ingrained. She started forwards immediately, without thinking, and Bo managed to neatly trip her into the dungeon and lock it behind her. "I'm not getting you into danger again," she said firmly.

"Did it occur to you to just _ask_?"

"Nicely?" Bo's eyes glittered blue for a second, but then she shook herself out of it, discarding her flirtatious tone. God, she was so _hungry_. All those hours trapped in a small car with Lauren, nothing to entertain her but staring at the beautiful doctor... the truncated session with Lauren at Griff's... the injections had managed to hold it back, a bit, but she could feel her self-control slipping with every moment she spent in her ex's company. "Listen, I'll take care of this and be back here in five minutes. Promise."

X_X_X_X

In actuality it was more like an hour. Bo's clothes were a bit singed when she let Lauren out, but Lauren ascribed that to the neat jar of ashes she held. "It was gross," was all Bo would say.

Lauren, too grateful that Bo was okay to be annoyed about being treated like a child and left behind, drove them back to the motel room she'd thoughtfully booked earlier. It was twin beds, thankfully – less chance of either of them giving into temptation and doing something foolish.

As soon as they were in the room Bo turned to Lauren. "I'm sorry. I put you in so much danger."

Lauren shrugged. "It worked out okay, Bo. Don't be so worried. We're fine. Don't stress."

"Don't _stress_?" Bo let out a high-pitched laugh. "My fiancé is dying, my best friend's dead, my dead ex is alive and apparently immortal, I was just nearly tortured to death, and when I get back I have to finish organising my wedding in less than a fortnight. And I have singed hair." Bo stopped. Lauren's expression was stunned.

For some reason, Lauren hadn't really connected the idea of Bo and Dyson being engaged with the idea of them getting married. The ideas should have been linked in her mind, but for some reason, she'd never pictured it. Now she did. And so _soon_. "A fortnight," Lauren said, her voice conveying no emotion at all.

"I'm sorry," Bo said lamely. She wasn't even sure why she was apologising. Lauren had had decades to come back, and she hadn't. It was entirely her fault if Bo had moved on.

"It's not a big deal," Lauren said carefully.

"I guess not," Bo said, somehow wanting it to be a big deal. "After all, we've both moved on."

"Moved on?"

Bo forced a laugh. For some reason, she couldn't leave it alone now. It was like picking at a scab. "You know, me and Dyson, you and Mali." Bo looked at Lauren's expression. "Well, it was fairly obvious. Don't act like I'm stupid. You two are living together and everything. And I'm fine with it," she said, her voice brittle. "After all, it's not like I thought you'd pine away for seventy years. No one's that pathetic."

Lauren managed to keep her face even, not wanting to reveal that she was exactly that pathetic. She'd wondered, once or twice, if losing Nadia and then Bo in such quick succession had broken her somehow, made her incapable of moving on. Another possibility she'd considered was that when Bo had thrust her chi into her, she might have somehow pushed some of her essence into Lauren. So that Lauren truly wasn't able to get over Bo. A kind of permanent thrall, achieved from having so much of Bo's chi in her, even to the point of being given some of the succubus's life-force, which could potentially have as significant an effect as her blood if not more so. Not that there was evidence that could happen – on the other hand there wouldn't be, since it had never happened before. She just couldn't help thinking that no_ ordinary_ person could stay in love – unrequited love – with someone for such a long time. Then again, maybe she was just weak. The memory of her embarrassing, sad letter, the one that Bo couldn't even bring herself to mention, whirled into her head again. "Of course," Lauren said, deciding it was face-saving time. "Mali and I are… very happy."

Bo winced. For a second Lauren thought it was a sign that Bo cared, and felt a wild rush of happiness, but then Bo put her hand to her side.

"Lift up your shirt," Lauren said, her voice suddenly sharp with suspicion.

Unwillingly, Bo pulled up her tank top enough for Lauren to see the serious burn plastered down her left side. It had turned out that the Nashin had rather more in common with their phoenix ancestors than Lauren had known about.

"Bo! Why didn't you say anything? Let me help you." She took a step towards her, but Bo took a step back, jumping to conclusions about the type of aid being offered.

"I thought you were always faithful, Doctor Lewis," Bo said, aware that it had come out sounding like a taunt but unable to stop it. It was stupid, after all these years, to be affected so easily by Lauren – but she was just so damn hot and cold. First saying she was happy with Mali, then stepping towards Bo like she was offering herself up on a silver platter.

Lauren bridled. What kind of person could avoid contacting her for nearly seventy years, then act like she was the one who'd been abandoned? Was she really that selfish? But then, Bo had been busy. With Dyson. And Lauren had given her very specific terms – practically an ultimatum. If Bo had never contacted her, it was probably her own fault. She should have just asked Bo to write to her occasionally and let her know what had happened, not act as if Bo emailing her was code for 'I want you'. That had been selfish of her, as well.

It was all such a mess.

"I meant with medicines," she said coldly. "There's no way you could tempt me to cheat."

Lauren had meant it to sound like 'there's no way you could tempt me to _cheat_', but it instead came out sounding more personal than that – 'there's no way _you_ could tempt me to cheat'. Like Bo wasn't good enough, or attractive enough to tempt her into something like that. It sounded like worse than a taunt – it sounded like a challenge.

Bo abruptly reversed direction, coming towards the doctor, jealousy making her anger flame. Something else flamed, as well. It had been a long time since she'd fed. Too long. And even longer since she'd fed off Lauren, who had the most delicious taste out of anyone Bo had ever fed from. She stepped very close to Lauren. "Really," she said smoothly, "Because you're raging at about an eight right now, _Doctor Lewis_. Nine," she said, watching as her aura burned hotter. "Ten," she slipped her arms around Lauren's unresisting body, pushing her body against her. She didn't bother to use her powers, but blew lightly into Lauren's ear. "_Twenty_," she whispered hotly into Lauren's ear, and then took her earlobe into her mouth and sucked.

Lauren moaned, the sound barely human. When Bo released her ear she crashed her mouth down on Bo's, turning it into a wildly hot kiss. With her hands she yanked ineffectually at Bo's half-off tank top, unable to get it off since their bodies were so close. Bo nipped Lauren's bottom lip, then leaned back to strip off the tank top for her, before diving back in again.

It was more like a battle than a make-out session. Bo ripped off Lauren's shirt without bothering undo any of the buttons, and yanked her bra off in the same way. Lauren, meanwhile, was sucking at Bo's neck as she struggled to push her hand down the front of her leather pants. Bo manhandled her backwards to the edge of the bed so she could straddle her, rearing up to pull open her pants, then grabbing Lauren's hand and forcing it back down there now that there was space. Lauren didn't bother with any more foreplay, which Bo was grateful for because she definitely didn't need it. She whimpered as Lauren pushed two fingers into her, and rocked against them. Oh God, Lauren had always managed to get the angle exactly right, it was like she could hone in on Bo's most sensitive areas without even trying, so that every single stroke was a mini-orgasm.

"So much… for… faithfulness," Bo managed to say triumphantly but hoarsely, closing her eyes to enjoy the feeling. She buried her hands in Lauren's hair, bringing the woman's mouth close to her breasts in supplication. "Guess… I'm not the only one… hungry…"

"Fuck you," Lauren spat unexpectedly, her eyes darkening, and Bo nearly came from the sheer hotness of hearing the oh-so-proper Lauren swear. Lauren pushed the heel of her hand against Bo's clit, and Bo moved harder against her in return, feeling herself start to come. Then Lauren caught a nipple in her mouth and bit down lightly and Bo thought she'd died and gone to heaven. She rocked against Lauren's hand, rising against it, pushing, and then she wasn't thinking about it at all, she was just moving, frantically reaching for more, with Lauren's fingers rubbing over exactly the right place inside of her again and again, and she gasped at the sheer glory of it. Then she exploded.

But she wouldn't be Bo if she didn't try and get the last word. "Thought… you _were_… fucking me," she gasped, coming down from her first orgasm and aware that as magnificent as it was it was nowhere near enough. She wanted another, straight away, and she pushed feverishly against Lauren's hand in supplication. Neither of them noticed that her injury had completely vanished. She whimpered as Lauren roughly removed her wet fingers and pushed at her, pressing sticky fingers against her shoulder. For a fearful second Bo thought Lauren was about to force Bo off her and leave but instead her action just rolled them with a thump to the floor with Lauren now on top, her hands finding Bo's wrists and pressing down on them.

The shock from the fall left Bo breathless for a moment, as Lauren brought her mouth to Bo's neck and sucked so intensely it became a little point of hot pain that Bo knew would become a bruise. The thought, and the pain, and the rush of it, made heat course through Bo's body until she was pretty sure she was molten. Bo, much stronger than Lauren, then easily freed her wrists and grabbed Lauren's right hand, bringing it to her mouth to taste her own arousal. She managed a dark smirk at how Lauren's aura sparked hotter than she'd ever seen before when Bo sucked at her fingers hungrily. "You really think you can take charge?" she taunted, licking her lips, then rolling their bodies over again so she was the one on top, and leaning down to press herself against Lauren. She rubbed her bare breasts against Lauren and kissed her hungrily, enjoying that Lauren was tasting Bo indirectly on her lips.

But Lauren might have been turned on, but she was also angry, and she'd never been as predictable or simple as people thought. "I think there's better things your mouth could be doing than talking," Lauren hissed, burying her hands in Bo's hair and using it as a leash to drag Bo downwards. The succubus obediently followed the pressure, actually enjoying the way the sting of pain from her grip added to the immense arousal she still felt. No one did kinky like a succubus. "After all, you've already had one orgasm -" Lauren gasped and bucked involuntarily as Bo licked into her. Bo grabbed her hips to hold her still. " – I'm a little behind," Lauren finished, sounding no longer angry or taunting, but simply frantic and desperate as Bo pinned her there and tasted her fully.

Bo gripped Lauren's hips so tightly she knew it would bruise, and the thought that there were her marks all over Lauren, and Lauren's marks all over her, and that they had the taste of each other in the mouths and on their hands, made her feel so strongly she could hardly breathe. Lauren writhed beneath her, making little noises and trying to push herself harder against Bo's mouth, and Bo's lips curved into a wicked smile even as she pressed them against Lauren.

It was going to be a good night.

* * *

**So... in case you can't tell... writing smut is still extremely difficult for me. I swear, I was blushing the moment I started the scene. This is probably because I come from a family who find the word "sex" to be something that people just don't say. The other month someone mentioned 50 Shades of Grey to them and I ended up having to explain what the words "erotica" "BDSM" "dom" and "sub" all mean. They were horrified. According to my mother "Why would anyone want to read about... that sort of thing?"**

**I love my family. I'm just still not entirely sure I'm related to them.**

**Anyway, so don't harsh on my sex scene, I'm already aware it isn't exactly a work of erotic genius. Actually, if you guys think the bad writing of it ruins the mood of the fic, I can take it out. I almost did anyway.**


	10. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

"_Bo, this is ridiculous," Dyson said._

_Bo ignored him, focusing on the scrawny being squirming before her. He seemed to be trying to pull away from her hand even as he pushed himself closer, desperate for the feel of her powers. "Tell me again. Where did you last see Lauren?" She pushed more of her power into the scared underfae, who writhed uncomfortably even as he stared at her in adoration._

"_I, I, I don't know -"_

"_Tell me NOW." Bo let her full power flow through him, so much that it was pain more than pleasure._

"_On the floor, at the compound," the Fae gasped. "I, I just hit her, and she fell -"_

_Bo drew back her fist, but before she could bury it in the thing's face, Dyson grabbed her arm. "Bo," he hissed, his teeth lengthening slightly as she watched. "We already knew he was part of the mob. It's not his fault. It was the Chaos Fae."_

"_We got infected by it, and I didn't see any of us clawing at Lauren, hitting her, stabbing her -" Bo argued, her voice breaking._

"_She's _fine_," Dyson bellowed, then continued more quietly. Bo pushed more of her control into the underfae – the last thing she wanted was a worm like him knowing Lauren was still alive. The public view was that Lauren had died, and that Hale and Dyson had cleaned it up like they did most Fae-related deaths. If Lauren was on the run from the new Ash, Bo wanted her to have as much of a head start as possible. Of course, rumours were already spreading that Lauren was alive thanks to her interrogations, but Bo squashed them whenever she could. The only person who seemed to believe Lauren was alive outside their group was the Morrigan, who knew the depths of Bo's feelings for Lauren and suspected the girl would be much more crushed if her human consort was dead. Dyson used this fact occasionally to try and get Bo to stop looking, claiming she was endangering her friend. If the Dark Fae found her it could go even worse than if the Light did. "She's fine. She chose to leave, to go. You need to get over this, this _obsession_."_

_Bo stared at him, more hurt than angry that he didn't understand this, and strode out of the room. Dyson caught up with her in a few steps._

"_I didn't mean it like that," Dyson said in a conciliatory way. "I just don't understand why you're so hung up on this. You were all about Lauren being free, and now she is."_

_Bo wanted to say that she hadn't meant she wanted Lauren free from her._

"_We can't keep getting in every Fae we have an excuse to pull in, just so you can interrogate them into giving answers they don't have!" Dyson continued. "You'll get me and Hale fired." He sighed. "Why is this so important? Are you still… interested in her?"_

"_No," Bo said too-quickly. "No. Of course not." She wasn't stupid. Lauren had left, knowing that Bo loved her. If the fact that Bo loved her and wanted to be with her wouldn't make Lauren stay, Bo couldn't imagine what would. It wasn't that she wanted to go tearing after Lauren and beg her to come back. All she wanted to do was make absolutely sure Lauren was fine, and maybe yell at her for scaring Bo and not saying a proper goodbye. She didn't want to get her back._

_And if only she could convince herself of that, maybe she'd be able to convince Dyson._

_The facts were: when Bo chose Dyson, Lauren threatened to leave. When Bo chose Lauren, Lauren still left. There was no way to change those facts. But Bo couldn't help wondering what would have happened if she'd realised sooner that Lauren was what she wanted. Also, what if Lauren had left because she thought Bo wasn't serious? Or leaving was her revenge because Bo chose Dyson first? Or did she still think that she was second place, and that maybe the only reason Bo wanted to be with her was because something had gone wrong with Dyson?_

_She couldn't help wanting to make sure. She wanted to find out if Lauren was labouring under a misapprehension. To see if there was really a chance._

_It would probably help her chances, she could admit, if she stopped sleeping with Dyson. But what was she supposed to do? He was just… there. And she did love him, in a way. And she couldn't stand the thought of losing them both. _

_It was funny. She'd told Lauren she didn't have a choice. Now Bo actually didn't._

_It was easier to just bury her feelings for Lauren, and tell herself that she was just concerned about a friend's safety. It was a nice lie._

_X_X_X_X_

"_So Bo's hopped on board the crazy train," Hale commented._

"_Ayup," Kenzi downed her drink. She had made her way through most of the bottle already, just watching Bo and Dyson argue in the corner. "And it may be a long ride, too. Though I should tell you that she wants us to keep Poppa Trick in the dark about the big crazy in her head."_

"_What'cha talkin' 'bout, little momma?"_

"_Well, actually it was wolfy's thought," Kenzi corrected herself. "He suggested in scary adult-y way he has that the last thing grandpa fairy needs right now when he's trying to calm the Fae populace is to know his little Bobo's gone gaga. And Bo's going along 'cause she doesn't want to worry grandpappy."_

"_The Light Fae craziness is probably enough worry for any man," Hale agreed. "Have you been joining in with girlfriend's crazy?"_

"_I've dragged in a couple of Fae," Kenzi said self-importantly, "I'm a badass, remember."_

"_Not likely to forget it."_

_Kenzi sighed, her happy mask dropping. "It's just hard, you know? Watching her. If the doc was here I'd be kicking her right in her hotpants. Bo's heard the deets about Lauren's death from at least fifty different sources, but she's getting nothing on after that. And frankly hearing those details is making her crazier if anything. Everyone thinks the doc's dead and if we draw any attention to the fact she's not, we could be assisting in getting her skinny ass dragged back here for runaway slave punishment, which I'm guessing is not a light spanking. I just wish we could find her."_

_Hale shook his head sadly. "We're police detectives for the Fae, you're freelance detectives for them. You'd think that if anyone was able to find someone, it would be us."_

"_The Fae," Kenzi repeated, hit by an idea. "But Doctor Hotpants isn't Fae." She suddenly grinned, and leaned towards Hale._

"_Kenz'?" Hale said doubtfully._

_Ignoring him, Kenzi grabbed his cheeks and gave him a loud smack of a kiss right on his nose. "You're like Albert Einstein, man. You just invented the light bulb and it went ping in my head, 'cause I gots me an idea."_

_Hale blushed, and tried to hide it manfully. "You're welcome," he said, smiling a little dopily._

_But Kenzi was already out the door._

_X_X_X_X_

_The private eye squinted at Kenzi. His office was dark and smoky, like something out of a noir movie. Kenzi approved. Unfortunately, the detective himself was no Sam Spade, but that couldn't be helped. At least he seemed inured to insane and indifferent to illegal._

"_So this lady -"_

"_Shouldn't you say 'dame'?" Kenzi said helpfully._

_The man sighed and tried again. "All right, this dame, then. She's missing. You want to find her because you think she's in trouble with the mob and she's escaping her abusive husband and is one of the leaders of the rebellion which her long-lost father is trying to destroy?"_

"A_ rebellion. Not _the_ rebellion."_

"_You know that is a whole bunch of obviously made up reasons stolen from movies and books."_

"_Hey! Movies, only movies. I'm not a frickin' librarian."_

_The P.I. closed his eyes. "You also claim to be part of a private investigation firm that is unregistered because it deals with the supernatural." Kenzi had thrown that one in just for the hell of it, aware he wouldn't believe her. "Which is the plot of at least five television shows, none of which are any good."_

"_Are you insulting Angel?" Kenzi said ominously. "Because nobody insults Angel around me. Have you seen their leather coats?"_

"_Listen, lady -"_

"_Dame -"_

"_No! Not dame! Listen, lady, I don't think I can help you out here -"_

_Kenzi poured money out onto the desk. The man's eyes widened as he took in all the notes. In fact Kenzi had gotten it out in fives for maximum effect. "Would you like to look at the picture I have again?" Kenzi said innocently. "Goes by the name Lauren Lewis, trained doctor so will be doing something scientific, has been to the Congo before, I'm not sure what she speaks besides English."_

_The man grinned. His teeth were yellow with nicotine. "Show me the damn picture, la – I mean, dame."_

* * *

When Lauren woke, she felt happier than she could remember feeling for years. The seedy motel room seemed bright and beautiful, but nowhere near as beautiful as the warm body she was tangled around.

At some point in the night one of them had dragged a sheet off the nearest of the two beds – neither of which had been slept in – and draped it over the two of them. Unfortunately they'd draped it sideways instead of lengthways, so it didn't really cover much. Or perhaps fortunately. Certainly it was a better view than any Lauren had woken up to in as long as she could remember.

She stretched and felt the ache of her body, telegraphing how much she'd enjoyed the night before. It had been a long time since she'd done _that_, too.

Then reality hit her like a ten-ton truck and her eyes slammed wide open in horror.

She'd just helped Bo cheat on Dyson. More than that, she'd practically egged her into it. They'd just screwed each other on the floor of a terrible motel room, while Bo's fiancé lay in a critical condition, when she was getting married in less than a fortnight. Could it have been any more sordid and stupid?

Lauren felt furious with herself, and completely humiliated. What had she done? She'd just ruined any chance of dignity she had, as well as all of the morals she'd truly believed she possessed. And the worst was going to be when Bo woke up and quite rightfully blamed her for provoking a hungry and wounded succubus into betraying the love of her life.

Then Lauren revised her thoughts, allowing herself to get angry with Bo as well. Bo had no right to blame her. After all, it was Bo who'd cheated. And Bo who had once again used Lauren's feelings for her in order to tie Lauren into little knots of pain and embarrassment. Why should Lauren have to apologise?

Quietly, she managed to extricate herself from Bo's warm embrace. Oh God, but it had been amazing. She hadn't felt passion like that in so long she'd honestly wondered if her parts had shut down.

Bo rolled over, blinking up at her. "Lauren?" a blissful smile spread across her face. "Come back to bed – er, floor," Bo laughed sleepily, still half in dreamland.

"We need to get dressed and out of here," Lauren said tightly. She managed to locate her pants. "After all, we need to trade the ashes to Griff, and get the antivenom back to _your fiancé _in time."

"My… oh."

"I'm glad you still recall him," Lauren said sarcastically, getting antsy.

"Oh, and how often did your significant other cross your mind last night?" Bo shot back, waking up quickly and not nearly as pleasantly as she thought she would.

Lauren pulled her shirt on roughly, growling when she realised there weren't enough buttons to do it up. "God, Bo. You're getting married in less than a fortnight."

"Well then," Bo said, starting to get really angry at the judgment in Lauren's voice. "It's probably a good thing I got this _fling_ out of the way then. It will make the honeymoon sex so much better by comparison."

"Like I told you before, no one ever forced you to play with the unclean," Lauren retorted, "But I do understand. I guess it's _in your nature_." Immediately she realised how harsh that was, and would have apologised if Bo wasn't already replying.

"At least I have an excuse, since I'm a succubus and we clearly can't help ourselves," Bo snarled. "What's yours? Sweetie-pie Mali not sexing you up well enough? I guess it would be hard to top a succubus."

"Not that hard to top you, from what I recall last night," Lauren said, intending it to be an insult and then flushing as she recognised the double entendre. Judging from Bo's sudden smirk, she'd noticed it too. To distract from it, Lauren continued, "And this is _nothing_ to do with Mali, so leave her out of it." Trying to insult a succubus's sexual abilities was clearly never going to be a zinger of an insult.

"Actually, it's everything to do with your other half," Bo said, poisonously sweet. She was angry with Lauren, but more than that she was angry with herself, for allowing herself to be pulled back into this toxic triangle once more. "After all, I just seduced you to see if I could. To see if you were really able to be faithful. And shockingly, I was proved right: you're still easier to get into than community college."

"You'd know more about community college than I would," Lauren shot back. She suddenly realised they were bickering like teenage girls. It was ridiculous, and so undignified. Nobody but Bo ever made her act so foolish – like when she'd stabbed her with needle. Even as she was doing it she knew it was a damn stupid idea, but she did it anyway. The same as the kiss at Griff's home, and the sex last night, and seventy years ago when she'd slept with her under orders. Bo made her act like her IQ was a hundred points lower and at the same time hopped up her sex drive as if she'd been eating only oysters and strawberries for a decade.

Suddenly she sighed, grabbed Bo's top, and threw it at her. "Bo, this is stupid," she said, sounding almost sad. "Clearly, last night was a horrible mistake, so we should just pretend it never happened and look after what we have, all right?"

Bo just glared at her, pulling on her top. Lauren watched with a pang of regret as amazing breasts and several quite good hickeys were hidden from her gaze, then managed to drag her eyes away. She wondered how burns could heal but hickeys stayed there – perhaps it was some subset of Bo's powers as a succubus. Certainly Lauren wasn't going to ask. She could feel herself poker up at Bo's coldness.

They drove the entire way to Griff's in cool silence.

X_X_X_X

They took turns sleeping and driving, four hours each turn. The result was that by the time they were there, they were both exhausted, miserable, and depressed, and Dyson had been sick for seventeen days. They were cutting it fine.

"Perfect," Griff smiled his big, wide smile, looking at the ashes. How he could tell them apart from any other ashes Bo had no idea. "Now he'll be up and around and perfectly fine in a few years."

"If it's longer, I can deal with that," Bo quipped.

Griff nodded sympathetically. "My brother can be quite difficult, I know. I suppose my butler can as well – I notice you left the Argan's human in the hall this time. He doesn't like humans much."

"I noticed."

"He doesn't understand it like you and I do," Griff said conspiratorially, "He's very old fashioned. He thinks you should treat them badly just for being human, as some kind of punishment. It's ridiculous."

"I agree," said Bo, warming to him a little.

Griff continued on his train of thought. "He doesn't understand that what they really need is pity and care. Like small children, you know? You look after them and protect them from the consequences of their own ignorance, but that doesn't mean you have to treat them disrespectfully. They didn't ask to be lesser than Fae, after all. They were just born inferior. Mistreating them is just like hitting a cow for not giving enough milk – it's not the poor thing's fault. So long as they're respectful and remember their place, there's no reason to be nasty to humans."

Bo felt suddenly cold. "I'll have the antivenom now," she said hollowly. "Actually, I'd better get Lauren in here, so she can make sure it's okay." She went straight to the hall as Griff started to rummage through his things and grabbed Lauren's arm.

Lauren, who'd been leaning very slightly against the wall in deference to her largely-sleepless night, looked up in surprise. She had swollen lips and dark circles under her eyes and Bo suddenly felt terrible. "You know that thing you said before, about playing with the unclean?"

Lauren nodded, clearly wondering if there was about to be another sparring match.

Instead, Bo pulled her into a quick hug. "You're not the unclean. Not ever. Okay?"

Confused but touched, Lauren smiled slightly. It brightened Bo's terrible day just to see it. The way she and Lauren kept stumbling between furious anger and an uneasy truce wasn't very relaxing. She missed the woman who'd always been there for her, on her side. Apart from Kenzi, Lauren had always been the person she trusted most, even when she was mad at her.

Griff eventually produced the vial. It was the weirdest thing Bo had ever seen, with a strange clawed top. She heard Lauren inhale sharply as she stepped towards it.

Grabbing the thing, Lauren held it up to the light. "Green flecks shaped like miniscule hexagons," she said. "Definitely the antivenom." She still looked troubled, and Bo turned questioning eyes to her. "Do you have a decent doctor where you are?"

Bo thought about it. "No, not really."

"This is a special type of delivery system for the antivenom," Lauren said. "Extremely old, extremely complex. You need to do a special surgery and get the placement just right to deliver the antivenom properly."

"What does that mean?"

"That means I'm coming with you."

X_X_X_X

"You don't have to," Bo said, for the second time in two days.

"Of course I do."

"We'll be careful," Bo continued. "Keep you hidden away. No one will see you. Not that they'd recognise you if they did. We can say you're a Fae from out of town. A healer I called in to help Dyson. That's true, even."

Lauren tried to smile. The thought of being around Dyson, and, worse, being around Dyson and Bo together, was not a happy one. But she was needed, and she'd always done what was needed before.

After a long pause Bo spoke again. "About that fight was had," she said tentatively. "I'm sorry."

"Me too," Lauren said, relieved.

"I just, it just, it seemed like you were judging me," Bo continued, determined to explain. "You were acting like I was the only one cheating on someone."

Lauren hesitated. But what difference did it really make, now? "You were," she said honestly.

"What? What about Mali?"

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have let you think…" Lauren flushed slightly, embarrassed. "I just didn't want you to think… I don't know. I guess I didn't want you to think I was still not over you. I didn't want things to be awkward between us. And I definitely didn't want you to think I was pathetic and lonely. But Mali and I are not, nor have we ever been, a couple."

"But she lives with you," Bo pointed out.

Lauren shrugged. "I move around a lot… soon I'll be gone from the area. I'm training her to be my replacement when I'm gone."

"But you didn't want to leave her!"

"Her late husband was somewhat… brutish… and she's started to look to me as some sort of protector," Lauren said uncomfortably. "She doesn't feel as safe when I'm not there. The villagers respect me, because they think I'm supernatural, and she knows that."

Bo tried to wrap her head around it. Lauren was here, with her, completely single. Perhaps later she would be angry that Lauren had lied, but right now, all she felt was contentment and a deep happiness. "No one could ever think you're pathetic, Lauren," she said finally. "You're incredible. I'm amazed by your strength, and your intelligence, and your compassion. You're the farthest thing from pathetic. I'm lucky to know you."

Lauren hesitated, then tentatively reached out and grasped Bo's hand. For a second Bo could almost have believed that Lauren was the succubus, not her - she could feel warmth spread through her from the point of contact. "And you underrate yourself, Bo," she said, her voice warming Bo even further, like a cosy fire, "Because you're much more incredible than me."

* * *

**Thanks everyone for being so nice about the sex scene. You guys are fantastic for my self esteem :)**

**Believe it or not, the thing about humans needing to be cared for and protected like small children is directly taken from someone I know, who was talking about women. I believe he was trying to argue the point that I shouldn't be allowed to be getting my degree, because I would either give it up to have children, or go mental and get myself fired when I first had a period, so it was really for my benefit that he was telling me women didn't belong at my uni - I believe he called it a "reality check". And he was semi-quoting Scott Adams, that guy who writes Dilbert, who said "The reality is that women are treated differently by society for exactly the same reason that children and the mentally handicapped are treated differently. It's just easier this way for everyone. You don't argue with a four-year old about why he shouldn't eat candy for dinner. You don't punch a mentally handicapped guy even if he punches you first. " Managing to insult feminists, handicapped people, and decent human beings with one easy paragraph.**

**Sometimes this world is a very depressing place.**

**Thank God we have Zoie Palmer to even it up a bit.**


	11. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

"_Bo, you need to get over this," Dyson's voice was the growl it always became seconds before he had to leave an argument or risk going wolf. "It's been a year. Lauren's gone!"_

"_But we don't know where," Bo argued. "We don't know why. What if she was kidnapped? Lauren would not have left without a note!"_

"_Well, apparently, she would have!" Dyson breathed heavily. "Look, I don't want to talk about this anymore. I've made my position clear. I love you, Bo. I think you should move in with me. But first, I think you need to forget about this."_

"_You want to move in together?" Bo was diverted by this. "But what about Kenzi?"_

"'_What about Kenzi?' 'What about Lauren?' 'What about Aoife-Trick-Hale-random Fae-etcetera'! I'm sick of this, Bo. We're together. We should be together. Your priority should be us, not everyone else we know!" Dyson banged his hand on the table. "Do you want me in your life or not?"_

"_Of course I do!"_

"_Then show it! Did you really think you would live with Kenzi forever? Did you think Lauren would stay forever?"_

_Maybe she had. Maybe she had thought both those things. "Dyson, you know I love you."_

"_I don't know anything," Dyson growled. "But this is me making an ultimatum, setting the rules. You're either in or you're out. And if you're in, then you need to start letting go of the past, starting with Lauren."_

"_Dyson -"_

"_I can't talk about this anymore," Dyson said abruptly, and with a swish he was out the door._

_Bo sat there, forlorn, nursing her drink. Maybe she was living in the past. But the past was a pretty nice place, at least the part of it that included Lauren. She pictured how it could have ended up – her and Lauren and Kenzi all living together. Lauren would bake and clean, and Kenzi would whine about it because deep down Kenzi was thirteen years old, and they would bicker, and she'd defend one of them and have a pillow thrown at her by the other, and she'd hook an arm around each of their necks and say playfully that she loved them both. She'd kiss Kenzi on the cheek, and Lauren on the mouth, and they'd keep kissing until Kenzi ordered them to get a room with mock disgust. And then she'd ruffle Kenzi's hair and threaten to include her in the lesbian orgy to show her how great it was if Kenzi kept making fun of them – _

"_Hey," As if her thoughts had summoned her, it was Kenzi, looking uncharacteristically nervous. "Bo, I have to talk to you."_

_No 'Bobo'. No pop culture references. Bo pulled herself out of her fantasy world and into the real one, which from the sound of it was about to get even worse. "Yes?"_

"_You know how… intense you've been about this whole Lauren business? With all the Fae?"_

_Bo scowled. "Are you about to tell me to give up too?"_

"_Sort of. In a way." Kenzi swallowed hard. "Bo, I found her. I found Lauren."_

_X_X_X_X_

"_You've had a private investigator looking this whole time," Bo said slowly, for the third time. She seemed to be trying to comprehend it._

"_Yes," Kenzi said. "Listen, I'm sorry. I should have told you -"_

_Bo hugged her hard. "You are the most amazing, most brilliant, smartest, Kenzi-est Kenzi in the whole world," she declared, eyes shining. "And he found her?"_

"_Yes. But Bo -"_

"_We can go straight away," Bo said happily. "God, I've missed her so much!"_

"_Bo! You need to see these first." Kenzi handed her a file._

_Bo opened it slowly. Then her eyes bugged a little. "She's less than a hundred miles away right now!"_

"_But from the sound of it, she's been constantly on the move," Kenzi said. "False identities, passports, not staying anywhere for longer than a month. Girlfriend's serious about her Houdini act." She blinked nervously. "But Bo, you need to look at the pictures."_

_Bo glanced at her, then started to leaf through the file. She stopped when she hit the pictures. There was Lauren, all right, at the airport. Looking very happy. Running across the room to throw herself into the arms of a beautiful tanned brunette. She flicked further through the pictures. Lauren embracing the brunette. Lauren playfully tugging at the brunette's braid. Lauren with her arm hooked through the brunette's as they walked down the street. Lauren whispering something in the brunette's ear._

_In every single picture, the brunette's face was alive with happiness and love. In the first one, at the airport, her eyes were even full of tears of happiness. But worse than that was that Lauren seemed to feel exactly the same. The pictures could have been an advertisement for gay marriage. The way that they looked at each other radiated love – not short-term lust, but long-term, smile-when-you-think-about-them love._

_And there was no way you could mistake them for relations, either. It wasn't like in a sitcom where it would turn out to be Lauren's sister. Their skin tones, facial features, hair, eyes and even builds were completely dissimilar. Oh, they were both beautiful, but in radically different ways._

"_Guess Nadia wasn't the only bit of her past Lauren neglected to mention," Bo said, her voice flat._

"_Maybe it's not what it looks like?" Kenzi suggested doubtfully._

_Bo found her eyes drawn to the one where they were embracing again. It was hard to see if they were actually kissing, since the brunette's hair was blocking that part of the picture, but it definitely looked like they were making out. "Right," Bo said. "Because that happens outside of television shows. It's exactly what it looks like, Kenz'." She forced a smile onto her face. "And that's okay. All I wanted to know was that she was okay, and now I know. That's all I needed."_

"_We both know that's not true," Kenzi said in an undertone. Bo turned on her. "Oh come on, Bo! You've been all Bella-going-catatonic-over-Edward for nearly a year! Do you want me to pretend I'm stupid? We all see how you feel. Even Dyson does."_

"_Dyson knows that I love him," Bo said stiffly._

"_Enough?"_

"_You know what I've had enough of right now, Kenzi? Your stupid questions." Bo stood up so fast her chair fell over. "I love Dyson. And guess what? He wants to move in together."_

"_Dyson's moving in with us?" Kenzi looked surprised._

"_No," Bo said. "I'm moving in with him. I guess you can find your own place, or stay there, or whatever."_

_Bo stormed out, her eyes full of tears, ignoring Kenzi calling her name behind her._

_X_X_X_X_

"_You're sure?" Dyson said._

_Bo knew he wasn't asking to double-check. He was asking to hear it again, the proof that she wanted him. Not out of insecurity, but because of the nice warm glow of pride and possessiveness it gave him. It annoyed her somewhere deep inside._

_But Dyson loved her. And there was nothing wrong with him, at all. He was a good man. A good person. He was the right one for her._

"_I'm absolutely sure," Bo lied. "My priority is us." And she thought about Lauren, a hundred miles away, laughing with her tanned dark-haired beauty of a girlfriend._

Kendra smiled politely as Lauren and Bo appeared. "Hello, boss," she said. Bo had resolutely banned anyone from calling her Miss Dennis or ma'am, meaning that most of her employees stuck with boss or sir. "And…?"

"Her name's…" Bo's attempt at inventiveness failed. "Doc."

"Like the dwarf?" Kendra asked chirpily, looking at Bo from under her eyelashes in an unmistakeably inviting way. The travel witch was always chirpy, even at unreasonable hours. She was also always there. Bo had yet to work out if she slept at all – possibly her kind didn't, but according to Trick it was impolite to ask.

"Yeah, sure," Bo said. "Listen, we need to go. Thanks for all your help on this."

"Sure thing, boss." Kendra's smile got even wider.

"I really appreciate it," Bo continued, flirting slightly, and Lauren rolled her eyes. Once again, the Bo charm at work. The poor girl was practically drooling. And Bo had to know, didn't she? After all, she could sense lust. Unless, of course, everyone around Bo was always full of lust, so Bo had nothing to compare it to and didn't consider Kendra's obvious infatuation anything above the norm.

"Don't roll your eyes at me," Bo said as they left.

"Wouldn't dream of it, _boss_," Lauren muttered.

Bo laughed. "Devotion to your superiors is a good quality in an employee." Well, that answered the question about whether Bo recognised Kendra's crush. Lauren was also embarrassed to realise that Bo had identified her emotions so easily as well, since she had always prided herself on her ability to mask emotions.

"And here I thought you were anti-authoritarian, Bo."

"I am. But devotion to me is a good quality in _anyone_."

Lauren couldn't help but return Bo's cheeky smile. "I suppose at least it shows taste."

We're laughing and joking, Lauren thought to herself. Laughing and joking and flirting, with this tense edge, because we're very very nervous. Because we're about to go see Dyson. The fiancé, the cheater, and the girl she cheated with. We'll all be in a room together, and to add to that there'll be accidental immortality and deadly venoms on the table as well.

It was like if they didn't laugh and joke and pretend, then all the pretending they'd done so far would have been a waste. If they let it become serious the seriousness would balloon and swallow everything.

"Time to go see Dyson," Bo said, almost to herself. Her smile faded – with concern, Lauren assumed. Lauren's smile faded too. So it was just two women walking along the street in tense silence, frowning.

They could feel the seriousness blooming all around them.

X_X_X_X

It was, as it turned out, something of a let down. Lauren had imagined she would feel a cocktail of emotions when she saw Dyson – mainly jealousy, but also anger, and gratitude, and dislike, and many more things all squashed together. Instead when she saw him, it was like the doctor part of her took over. All she saw was a patient, blood-stained and a sickly grey-yellow.

She nodded briskly to Hale and Trick, who were both in the room. Hale's eyes widened and he swore under his breath. Trick, on the other hand, smiled, beaming at her. In his years he'd probably seen a lot of stranger sights then her. Bo shushed them both, though, promising to explain later. Lauren ignored them all, focusing on the professional side of things, and started working to deliver the antivenom to Dyson's system. It wasn't until several hours later, when Dyson was stable, if unconscious, that she allowed them to drag her to the Dal to catch up. Other people were caring for him and there was nothing any of them could do right now – he would wake in five or six hours, according to Lauren's estimates, and they would return for that as a matter of course.

It took a bit of persuading, because Lauren was somewhat paranoid about being recognised, but the sheer number of unfamiliar faces relaxed her eventually. This wasn't an area where people normally stayed for long periods of time, especially Fae. And it had been so many years. She was really quite safe.

"I can't believe you're still alive," Hale said for about the third time, touching her face incredulously. "And you're not a ghost. She's not a ghost!" He was cheerful, a little tipsy already, over the moon because Dyson was going to recover. He couldn't see why Lauren being here was an issue at all. As far as Hale was concerned, an old friend was back in town. It was good news, even more so for being so unexpected.

"I'm aware she's not a ghost, thanks," Bo said.

"Ooh, I bet you are," Hale said thoughtlessly, only to be elbowed hard by Bo. "Ow! I was just joking!"

"Children," Trick reprimanded. He smiled at Lauren. "I knew we'd see each other again. Actually, I made something for when you came back." He pointed towards the busiest section of the bar.

Through the throng of people, Lauren could just about make it out. "A mechanical bull?" she couldn't help but laugh.

"That tacky thing the old man won't let me pull down is _your_ fault?" Hale sounded horrified. "That eyesore brings down the tone of my bar."

"You wanted to put in strobe lights!" Trick said, losing his benevolent and fatherly air. "How is the bull any more tacky?"

Bo leaned in towards Lauren, who looked down at her cleavage and felt all the blood flee her head, probably to make space for the mental images. She flushed. "They argue like this all the time," Bo stage-whispered, either not noticing the change in Lauren's aura or pretending not to. "Trick still thinks it's his bar."

"Legally, it is! And I will not allow my bar to be turned into a rave." Trick turned to Lauren, looking for support. "He wanted to put cages in. Cages. With naked women."

"Dancers! Artfully clothed dancers!"

"Being clothed in several strips of dental floss is not artful!"

"Depends on your taste in art," Bo said, looking amused.

Trick frowned and opened his mouth to continue arguing, before checking himself. "This is not important right now. It can wait. What's important is that Lauren remain safe and free of the Fae, and that Bo remain safe as well."

"We're passing her off as Fae," Bo reassured him. Lauren stayed silent, just enjoying being here again. After all this time. After a second she realised someone was staring at her. She turned and saw it was a handsome young man who looked vaguely familiar. For a second she felt chills run down her arm.

Trick was talking. "…there's the possibility she might count as Fae now, anyway. Or close enough. I researched it extensively in the first few years you were gone," he was addressing Lauren, and she struggled to pay attention. Bo stiffened, realising that if Trick had researched Lauren's condition, than that meant he'd known about it. And hadn't said a word. "I think the reason the excess chi didn't, well -"

"Splatter her like a Jackson Pollock painting?" Hale suggested.

Trick glared him into silence again. " – anyway, my conclusion is that you might have Fae ancestry. I think humans with a Fae parent, or grandparent, or even great-grandparent might possess dormant Fae genes in their DNA. Bo overdosing you with chi could have sparked them into awakening. In fact, I've looked into several species that have glowing as a feature. Now that I can cross-reference that with healing powers -"

"I've missed you," Lauren said simply and genuinely. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard anyone but herself use the word cross-reference, or talk about Fae classifications. But then, very few people took an interest in Fae types and species, unless of course it was a matter of urgency. Simply studying them for the sake of studying them wasn't common.

It felt good to be home.

Despite that, Lauren found herself looking at the man again. He was still staring. Bo followed her gaze, momentarily forgetting about the conversation she was going to have to have with her grandfather. "Look at the creep checking you out," she said, sounding vaguely disapproving.

"Oh, is that why he's staring? That's good." Lauren was relieved. Bo mistook it for happiness.

"I thought you were strictly into girls," Bo said, unable to disguise the jealousy in her voice. Trick looked away, and Hale let out a soundless whistle that Lauren nevertheless felt slide along her very bones.

"I, I am," Lauren slurped at her drink nervously. "I just worried that he might, you know, know me. From before."

Bo relaxed a little. "I don't think so. From his aura, he's just attracted to you. But I could go talk to him if you -"

"It's fine," Lauren said too-quickly – handsome men and Bo were not things she enjoyed seeing together, and finding out that Bo had a casual attitude towards faithfulness to her fiancé hadn't changed that in the slightest. She changed the subject to something else, and the man left without approaching either of them. Nearly an hour of conversation and drinking later, Lauren excused herself to go to the bathroom.

Bo looked up to find both Hale and Trick staring at her in concern. "What?" she said.

"You got jealous," Hale said. "Really jealous. I think I even saw your eyes glow."

Bo tried to shrug it off. "A little bit of leftover emotion for an ex. It's normal."

"I haven't seen you get jealous over Dyson for fifty years, at least," Hale replied. Trick remained silent, busying himself with wiping glasses, but he was, as always, watchful.

"That's because I know there's no reason to be jealous. I trust him."

Hale sighed, suddenly seeming a bit more sober. "Okay," he sipped his drink, "It just threw me for a second, is all. After all, girlfriend blows back into town like a week before your wedding, you can't blame us for wondering if the stellar angsty love triangle is going to explode all over again."

Even though Hale had relaxed, Trick still looked uncomfortable. Bo turned her attention to him. "You knew," she said quietly. "You knew why she left and you never said."

Trick shrugged. "At first I thought it would fade and that she'd come back. Then Kenzi told me that she'd moved on and was happy when I mentioned Lauren one day. I never saw the point in bringing it up. You seemed happy, and she was happy, so… it was years before I realised that you still missed her, and by then I honestly believed it wouldn't make a difference."

He looked so honestly regretful that she felt her heart go out to him a bit. After all, he was right. It wouldn't have made a difference. Even if Lauren leaving had been about what had happened to her, her staying away couldn't be explained so easily, anymore than her lack of contact. The message Dyson had gotten from the necklace – _I am free – _was still painfully, obviously the right one. It wasn't Trick's fault he hadn't realised quite how heartbroken Bo had been after Lauren's departure, since they'd all taken pains to keep him from knowing. If one of the others had hidden it from her, even knowing that, she might have been more annoyed, but Trick had really believed she was fine.

"Bo," Trick said quietly, interrupting her thoughts. "There's… something else. Something I haven't felt easy about since a talk with Kenzi I had before she died. You remember how after you became engaged to Dyson, we had that… talk? About how I might have made a mistake, committed a lie of omission a long time ago? I need to tell you -"

The noise in the bar died down a little, and they all automatically turned towards the door. "Oh, fuck," Bo said, not quite under her breath, as the Ash strode over to them.

"Later, than," Trick said, looking a little relieved, though that expression immediately turned to worry at this new development.

He was – or at least looked like – a man in his thirties. He somehow managed to be classically handsome without being even slightly attractive – he had all the right ingredients for attractiveness, and in a photo would even have a slightly model-esque quality to him, but in person he came across as cold and sort of hollow. Over the years he and Bo had reached an understanding, which was largely based on them both understanding they hated each other and that was never going to change, but that they both hated the Dark much more. The Ash was far too cold to allow emotion to govern his treatment of Bo, which was one point in his favour. They also both disapproved of murdering humans, though in Bo's case the reasons were rather more noble – this Ash just considered every dead human an annoyance he then had to cover up and deal with. The presence of Bo and her firm in his town seemed to cause him great annoyance, but it also kept the crime rates down, so he allowed it on sufferance.

Overall, Bo ranked him about the same as the other Ashes. He was less underhanded than the first Ash she'd met, but treated his humans rather better than Lachlan had treated Lauren. All in all, just another arrogant, obstructive bureaucrat.

But he'd never come to the bar before. Especially not with a contingent of guards following him.

"I believe you have a fugitive here," The Ash said, his voice as emotionless as ever. "A Doctor Lauren Lewis, slave to the Ash preceding me."

"Well, I believe Doctor Lewis died years ago," Trick said slowly, tensing.

The Ash smiled his wintry smile. "You are misinformed. We have reports from one of her former patients that she's been spotted here. Apparently he had an, er, infatuation towards her and kept a picture." The disdain in his voice was obvious as he held up a photograph that portrayed Lauren very clearly.

Bo cursed her own stupidity. So the man at the bar had known Lauren before, as well as having a crush on her. She'd placed too much trust in her powers and endangered Lauren. As soon as she'd felt the man's interest she'd disregarded him as a threat.

At the worst possible time, Lauren returned from the bathroom. She stopped stock still before she reached them, the colour draining from her face as she sized up the situation. The Ash noticed her immediately. "Doctor Lewis," he said, and Lauren bowed her head automatically. "It's… interesting to meet you. Honestly, I thought the mutterings of the Dark Fae about your survival were unfounded. It is especially interesting to find you looking so… young. This certainly merits further study."

"Over my dead body," Bo snarled, leaping to her feet. The guards drew their weapons in response. Several other people in their room started to loosen weapons or draw them surreptitiously – Bo had a lot of support amongst the younger Fae for her resistance to authority, belief in freedom, and progressive ideas. Trick frowned and started to edge towards to back, where presumably he had artefacts that could be turned into weapons. Hale drew a deep breath.

Lauren stood in thought for a second. Then she raised her head. "It's alright, Bo," she said calmly.

"What? Of course it's not!"

"Bo. Please. Let me handle this." Lauren stepped forwards, until she was standing directly in front of the Ash.

"So you're coming with me?" The Ash sounded as close to happy as he ever got.

"No." Lauren took a deep breath. "I claim the right of sanctuary."

Muttering started up throughout the bar, people whispering to each other and moving around. The Ash raised a pale eyebrow. "The right of sanctuary is only for Fae," he pointed out. "You are not Fae."

"I'm not?" Lauren permitted herself a small smile. "Prove it."

There was a long pause, and then the Ash smiled. It was the first time Bo had ever seen him smile in sixty-eight years. He looked at Lauren with something approaching respect. "Well played," he allowed. "But the right of sanctuary does not last forever. We will be back tomorrow, with equipment, to perform the tests. Once the spells prove you are not Fae, you will revert to belonging to me."

"She already belongs -" Bo started to say, suddenly having the bright idea to mention Lauren's possible ownership by the Argan.

Lauren touched her arm, stopping her. "Starting a war between Dark and Light is one thing," she said quietly out the corner of her mouth. "Starting a war between the Light of two different areas? Bad idea." Bo opened her moth to argue, and then thought better of it. She could see the logic in that. Both areas would be weakened and the Dark would end up controlling them. Which didn't mean she wouldn't risk that anyway if the other option was Lauren ending up enslaved to the Ash.

"I will undergo your tests," Lauren said, her voice crystal clear. "And once they find I am Fae, you will owe me an apology."

"What are you doing?" Bo hissed in her ear.

"Buying time," Lauren replied so quietly Bo could barely hear her. "Now at least we have a few days. We can contact Mia. If she shows up to claim me than this becomes a property argument, instead of a case of the Ash stealing the Argan's belongings. A dispute might end in a court case or trade deal – a theft would be a show of disrespect that could lead to open hostilities."

"Very well," the Ash smiled again. It was eerie. "But if you are not here tomorrow, we will know who smuggled you out. And we will be… displeased. If you want this bar to still be standing by the end of the week – and the people in it to still be standing – then I suggest you act in good faith."

X_X_X_X

Bo agreed to stay with Lauren, setting up a bed for her in the adjoining room to the bar.

She found herself looking at Lauren, like she always did, with a trace of awe. Those intense brown eyes, that soft mouth. Lauren was stunning, even tired and in rumpled clothing. She was wearing a blue shirt right now and the fabric floated around her in a way that made Bo want to rip it off. She thought she could see the lines of a black bra against it and swallowed dryly at the thought. She wanted to slowly undo the buttons of the shirt, then run her thumb against the stiff lace, feel the contrast between it's roughness and the silky smoothness of Lauren's body. She could leave it on, even, and stroke Lauren through it, until she was begging desperately for Bo to take it off, her body moving to -

"Stop it," Lauren said, not unkindly. She was flushed, and refused to meet Bo's intense stare. She wouldn't have said anything but all the shots she'd taken were beginning to hit her.

"Stop what?"

"Looking at me like that. Bo, what we did was wrong."

Bo averted her gaze. "I know."

They were alone in the room, luckily. Hale had gone to be with Dyson when he woke up. Trick was making calls to all the numbers he could think of to locate Mia, including several Lauren had given him. So far he didn't seem to be having any luck so far.

"Are you going to tell him?" Lauren said softly.

Bo shook her head. "No. No. It would just hurt him." She'd thought about this – in her case, it would actually be the more selfish thing to tell him. His old jealousy of Lauren would resurface. She knew he'd stay with her, but he'd be unhappy, doubting. All it would do is clear her own conscience and make her feel better – neither of which she deserved.

"All right," Lauren still didn't look quite at Bo. "Then I won't either. We just… won't do anything, ever again, and it will be fine. I'm going back soon."

Bo felt a spurt of panic in her at the thought of Lauren leaving. "If we're never going to do anything, ever again," she said slowly, her heart beginning to race, "Then we should probably do something as a sort of… goodbye. Closure." She felt a bit drunk, too, and knew she was going to pretend she'd been even drunker if Lauren ever brought this up again.

"Closure," Lauren echoed thoughtfully. "Like what? A hug?"

"How about a kiss?" Bo said. "Dyson doesn't mind me kissing other people, when I have to. To feed." She didn't point out that this was completely different.

"Are you hungry again?" Lauren said, looking suddenly concerned. She was beautiful when she was worried, Bo noted.

"A little," Bo lied. "I mean, I've been using so much power lately. And I think that burn's not completely healed." She knew she would definitely go to a special hell for this, but right now that seemed unimportant. What did seem important was getting the chance to touch Lauren's skin again. She was hungry, all right, but not for chi.

Lauren blinked. "Well," she said carefully. They both knew what this was. A cover. An excuse. A reason to touch each other again. "If you really _need_ to feed. Dyson's probably too weak right now for you to feed from him, anyway. If he really understands… and it's only a goodbye kiss, really… I mean, if kissing other people is allowed in your relationship, then it's not even-"

She didn't have the chance to finish her sentence before Bo swooped upon her. She sucked at Lauren's bottom lip before tilting her head to fully capture her mouth, bringing her hands to Lauren's slender waist. She kept it light and shallow, rather than passionate; preferring to enjoy the scent and the warmth of Lauren. Lauren, in turn, grasped at Bo's hair to pull her even closer, before shifting her hands to Bo's shoulders. She couldn't stop herself from clutching slightly desperately at them as Bo moved her hands under her shirt, sliding them up until she was just touching her bra.

Black lace, just like she'd thought. Bo felt even more lightheaded. She could feel the doctor's wildly beating heart under her fingers, and moved her hand to cover it more, exulting in being able to feel the effect she was having through a simple kiss. She explored Lauren's mouth with her tongue, pulling chi out of her gently.

"Stop," Lauren gasped, pulling away. "You're taking a lot." It was a lame excuse – now that she produced so much chi, she could probably have fed Bo for much longer. But she knew that if it went on for as much as another second, she would have deepened the kiss. She would have pushed Bo up against the wall and turned it from a friendly-goodbye slash chi-giving-mission into a passionate, no-holds-barred, I-want-you-right-here-right-now kiss. And that could only have ended badly. Deliciously, amazingly, and beautifully, but badly.

"Right, right," Bo pulled away as well, trying not to whine with disappointment. She hadn't allowed herself to get lost in the moment as much as normal – she'd been too busy concentrating, thinking it was the last time she would kiss Lauren. She'd wanted to remember all the details. It felt almost unbearable to think that she might never be able to trace the soft pink lips again, to run her hands over the silken skin. A thought occurred to her. "How were you able to pull away?"

Lauren gave a slightly weak laugh. "If you get exposed to succubus powers enough, you get used to them. Sort of."

"Exposed?" Bo felt her expression darken. "You mean with Mia?"

Lauren wanted to say that it was none of Bo's business, but she didn't want to lie again by implying that she and Mia were a couple. It had been reprehensible enough to do it about Mali before. "She likes to use her powers for fun, to see what I'll do," Lauren said simply. "But we're not… like that. At all."

But she wants to be like that, Bo thought jealously. She knew she was right. She couldn't believe she was doing this – engaged to Dyson and still mooning over Lauren. Was there ever going to be a day when she woke up and was finally able to put the past behind her? "I'll go to the bar," she said, clearing her throat, suddenly desperate to turn this into what it should have been - a way to get chi, not something more. "Make sure you're not… you're not bothered."

After she was gone Lauren raised her hands to her mouth. Suddenly she felt like she was going to cry. "Well, that was a _good_ goodbye," she said to the empty room, but she knew it hadn't been - either good, or a goodbye. With Bo there was never really a goodbye, never really closure. There was only an aching, needy want that was never quite fulfilled unless you were pressed against her, sweaty and panting and satisfied. And even then the satisfaction didn't last long, because however much passion Bo had to give was never quite enough – Lauren wanted all of her.

X_X_X_X

The moment Bo entered his room, Dyson pulled her into a heated embrace. "Hale told me that Lauren was here," he said, finally pulling away. "Listen, Bo. I'm sorry -"

"What for?"

Bo looked honestly confused. Dyson hesitated. So Lauren hadn't mentioned the destroyed letter. He was in the clear. It had been a foolish thing to do, but it had been years ago, and in fairness, how could he have known that Lauren would resurface apparently immortal only nine days before his marriage to Bo? He'd honestly believed she was long dead. It would be wrong to mess everything up now for something so small, a mistake so long in the past. "I meant, I'm sorry you've been through so much stress. I shouldn't have gotten so close to the body without wearing gloves," he improvised.

"Don't worry about it," Bo said. "I'm sorry I haven't visited you before now, I know you've been awake for more than twenty-four hours, there's just so much going on. I've been staying with Lauren at the Dal, trying to keep her calm and safe. I've also been trying to delay the tests they're using, but they say they'll have definite results by tomorrow."

Dyson decided it would be foolish to mention that a deathly ill fiancé should outrank a detained former lover. Bo was here now, after all.

Hale suddenly entered the room without bothering to knock. "We have a problem, Chiquita."

"Hale," Dyson couldn't help the annoyance in his voice. "Bo and I haven't… caught up… for more than a fortnight. Couldn't you give us some private time before dragging us off to worry about other things?"

"If Hale says there's a problem, it's probably important," Bo said immediately. Dyson stared at her, shocked. Since when was anything more important than sex to a succubus? Shouldn't Bo be ravenously hungry? His eyes narrowed in suspicion.

"It is," Hale assured them. "Sorry, man. The love fest is going to have to wait. Lauren's gone missing," he licked his lips nervously, "And if we don't find her soon, the Ash is going to assume we hid her, and go medieval on our collective asses."

* * *

**You guys are just the best readers ever. Thanks for all the really nice reviews!**


	12. Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

_A few people turned to stare at Lauren as she entered the internet café. She was, after all, incredibly pale, and it stood out much more in this part of the world. She was also covered in sweat, dirt and bug bites, with a trail of blood from a recent leech dried down the side of her face. This was less distinctive, though, since most of the other patrons were in a similar state. The computers themselves were even shabbier than the people in appearance – more than a decade old, from the days when computers were still heavy and bulky._

_They worked quite steadily despite that, though the heavy, wet, hot air seemed to slow them down. Lauren had to wait a full minute before Hotmail loaded. She frowned on viewing the page._

Your account has been disabled. It was found to be infected by a virus. Access to it is no longer possible.

_How could she have gotten a virus? In six years she hadn't sent a single email from it or received one. Of course, she'd been using some crappy computers and unsafe networks, but still. What bad luck._

_But then, maybe it was a blessing in disguise. After all, she'd given up on receiving anything from Bo a long time ago. She had no idea why she even bothered to check it anyway, much less why she was willing to trek through eight miles of rainforest twice a week just to see if she'd gotten anything. At her current odds it would be significantly better to just spend the money to buy scratchies instead of internet time._

_The money from Trick had run out a while back, but Lauren had spent it wisely. She had dozens of fake identities hidden around the globe, as well as emergency packages and burner phones. Money wasn't a massive issue anyway – a trained doctor was welcome anywhere. Here they thought of her as Doctor Beth Sanders. She'd bluffed her way into a volunteer group by claiming she was their medical assistance and they'd been touchingly pleased to have her. For the first ten minutes, they'd been suspicious of her lack of paperwork, until Lauren had demonstrated she knew the scientific names of all the plants and bugs and also how to cure the fever going around. Her expertise and her confidence had convinced them that the relief organisation had made a mistake yet again and they'd welcomed her with open arms, badgering the local branch of the organisation into paying her the same fees as them._

_No, it wasn't hard for Lauren, surviving on the run. What was hard was missing what was left behind._

_It shouldn't have been so significant really. After all, it had been barely a two-year period of her life. Since then she'd had seven years and before then she'd had more than thirty, but for some reason they hadn't had such an impact on her as the time spent with Bo. Perhaps because for five years before Bo, no one had cared about even such a simple thing as her name, and after Bo even those that asked got a false one. Bo, and the rest of the group back home, knew her name: her real name, her real story. And they cared. It had been like an oasis after the desert that was service to the Ash – and then she'd stumbled out into the desert again, with only the memory of water to keep her going._

_Perhaps the email account had been more important to her than she wanted to admit._

_She ached for Bo, suddenly. So what if Bo had never written? Maybe she hadn't found the note. Maybe she hadn't been able to read Lauren's handwriting and had been writing to the wrong address all these years. Their last possible line of communication was cut off, and Lauren knew that she had to see Bo again. At least once. She felt like a woman possessed: like she was not in control of her own actions._

_She stood up. "Hey? Where you going?" the man running the place said curiously. She was one of his best customers. "You still have time left, look -"_

_Lauren ignored the man and walked out onto the muddy road, following it towards the city. She didn't bother returning to get her scant clothes and possessions. She had her I.D. and some money sewn into the lining of her pants. She would be fine. When a car came by, she stuck out her thumb. The driver wound down the window, letting in the humid air and the buzzing mosquitos._

"_Where are you going?"_

"_The airport. Please. I'm going to the airport. I'm going home."_

_X_X_X_X_

_It was about halfway through her flight that Lauren began to have misgivings, but by then it was too late. It had been a stupid idea – dangerously stupid. She would be spotted. She'd endangered herself and Bo by her sentimentality and she knew it. However, she couldn't seem to stop. Now that she'd allowed herself to think she could see Bo, contact Bo, she couldn't stop herself._

_Hope was a dangerous thing._

_Lauren got off the plane in a daze. No one turned to look at her, or shouted at her to stop. It probably helped that her hair was currently short and dark – which, although it didn't suit her at all, did help disguise who she was. She put on dark glasses. After a minute's thought she went into the airport bathrooms and tried to wash dirt off her face and skin and even her clothes. It took twenty minutes, but she finally was satisfied – if not exactly happy – with her appearance. It was the best she could do in the circumstances._

_She caught one of the taxis that were always outside the airport, and told him Bo's address. He took one look at her sweaty face and shaking hands and demanded his money up front, probably assuming that Lauren was a druggie. She shoved hundreds of dollars in various currencies at him and he revised his guess to drug dealer, but drove her there anyway._

_When she knocked on the door she was met by a Fae girl who was clearly crashing there. There was still some of Bo and Kenzi's furniture there, but most was gone. "Hello?" Lauren said uncertainly._

"_Hello?" the girl eyed her, not aggressive but not particularly welcoming either._

"_Bo?" Lauren tried. "Is she here?"_

"_Bo?" the girl relaxed. "One of the women who lived here before? Sorry, she moved across town. Let me have the place. She was really nice about it, too."_

_She would have been, Lauren knew. It was just like Bo to have given away something she no longer needed to someone who did need it. "Do you have her address?"_

_The taxi driver was gone when Lauren got out so she had to call another one. This one didn't seem nearly as concerned by her haggard appearance and simply drove her without comment to the new address._

_It was both fancier and smaller than what Lauren had been expecting, much like her old apartment when she worked for the Ash. It did have large, wide windows though, so that sunlight could stream in. It was going dark now though so there was no sunlight to speak of, only a flickering streetlight. All of the apartments but one had their curtains shut tight against the darkness._

_Lauren knew that that apartment was Bo's even without checking the address she'd been given. Bo wouldn't hide from the darkness, she'd take it on, she'd stare it down. That was who she was. Lauren stared through the window, trying to work up the courage to go in. To see Bo and Kenzi again._

_What would they say? She imagined Kenzi cracking joke after joke, taunt after taunt, but giving her a hug anyway because Kenzi had a bigger and more loving heart than she allowed people to realise. Lauren found she couldn't imagine Kenzi even six years older – Kenzi had always seemed like the kind of person who would be forever young, constitutionally incapable of aging. She pictured Bo asking Kenzi to give her and Lauren a moment, and then maybe coldly asking Lauren what she was doing there. Or apologising for never emailing her. Or maybe not remembering her at all, because it was years ago._

_Then Lauren's breath caught as Bo appeared in front of the window. She was talking, gesturing wildly with her hands – Lauren could identify it as Bo in arguing mode. Defending something she'd said or done, maybe, or defending someone else. Probably someone else._

_Her breath caught again, this time in pain, as Dyson appeared beside her. He appeared frustrated by Bo's recalcitrance, getting more and more angry at whatever she was saying. He pulled her closer to him, looming over her as if he could win the argument by size alone. He stabbed his finger towards the darkness, making a point to do with the city, most likely. Or referring to the world, or just to the Fae – who knew? Anyway, for a second Bo's gaze followed his pointing finger, and she looked straight at Lauren._

_For a moment Lauren thought she couldn't be spotted, then she realised she was standing directly in the streetlight's beam. She was lit up like an opera singer on stage. Bo could probably see every bug bite, every scratch. Bo's eyes widened as she took her in, and they stared at each other in silence for a long moment. Then Bo simply looked away, as if she was dismissing Lauren._

_Dyson, clearly deciding it was time to end the argument, yanked Bo against him in a passionate kiss, which Bo returned with apparent enthusiasm. Dyson's other hand reached out to pull the curtains shut, ending Lauren's view._

_The streetlight flickered out. Lauren was standing in the dark, alone._

_X_X_X_X_

_Lauren was on a plane to France within an hour. She decided to block out the memory completely, pretend it had never happened. Someday if she met Bo again – very unlikely – she would act confused, pretend that Bo must have seen someone who looked a little like her. At that distance it was entirely possible to mistake someone for someone else. Yet somehow it hurt, the possibility that Bo might not have recognised her – almost as badly as the possibility that Bo had recognised her, and simply didn't care enough to even react._

_Lauren could have hit herself. She was humiliated. Her dramatic flight, her rushed cab ride, like from a romantic movie – all just so she could stand outside Bo's love-nest like a stalker. It was so pathetic, so utterly pathetic._

_The next night in France she found a beautiful, voluptuous bartender. They kissed sloppily and drunkenly in an alley-way and went a little further than kissing in Lauren's motel room, but Lauren raced to the bathroom to throw up before they could go all the way. She'd never been so drunk before. After what seemed like hours of vomiting, she was left empty and dizzy and cold. The French bartender was passed out in the bed so Lauren took off and walked the city in the cold early morning air, sobering up._

_About fifteen minutes in she found she was sobbing. "Damn you," she said to the city in general. She thought about Bo, who had promised her that what they did was not about Dyson, and had then made everything about Dyson, and she vowed to herself she would never again be in a relationship unless both parties could give their hearts fully and unambiguously. Until she was over Bo, she wouldn't see anyone else. Drunken, emotionless sex had never been her style anyway._

_Lauren returned to the motel hours later. She threw the number the woman had left for her into the bin, slept for four terrible hours, then phoned to order a ticket to the most disadvantaged part of Asia she could find._

_And many miles away Bo was woken by a ringing phone and rolled out of the bed she shared with Dyson. She was surprised to find it was the Fae girl Kenzi and her had given their old place to. "A crazy brunette human?" she said, puzzled. "I have absolutely no idea who that could be."_

"Okay," Dyson had somehow taken charge. "Now, the first question is, where would she go? One of us should check the airport. Also -"

"Wait, what?" Bo interjected, coming to a complete halt. She'd been nervously pacing the Dal's back room for five minutes now, trying to figure out what to do. "You mean, you think she took off? By herself?"

"Well, of course," Dyson rolled his eyes. "The Light Fae have no reason to take her, they were going to get her legally in a matter of hours anyway."

"Lauren wouldn't just leave."

Dyson narrowed his eyes. "Like before?" he said silkily, drawing the words out for maximum effect.

Bo flushed with angry colour. "That wasn't by choice. She had to go."

Dyson rolled his eyes. "Well, maybe she thought she had to go now too. Lauren's always been much more self-centred than you've wanted to believe. Remember when -"

"Enough," Hale said, his voice filled with quiet authority. "Your couples argument can wait until we don't have all our heads on the chopping block, capiche? Now the fact is, the doc is missing. We have only a few hours to find her. What I suggest is that Dyson check the airport." He held up a hand as Bo began to argue hotly. "Whether or not Lauren left willingly or was kidnapped, the fact remains that she could have been taken through the airport. It's the fastest way out of here." Bo subsided. "Bo, find Trick. He managed to track down the Argan's assistant earlier and she's promised to get her boss to call us back, so he took some time off. I think he went out to try on suits. He'll be able to give you the names of the Fae who were here earlier today, perhaps one of them saw something. Question them. I'll reach out to my contacts in the police force and among the elders, find out if the Light Fae are behind this. Call to give me an update at least every half hour, understand? Now go."

Bo had never really understood before why Trick chose Hale to take over running the way station, but at that moment she did. Even though Hale liked to play the part of immature playboy with charm to burn, he was much stronger-willed and a better leader than people gave him credit for. Perhaps they overlooked it because he chose to stay in the shadows, acting as Dyson's wingman and sidekick, largely because he associated leadership with the classism and arrogance of his father.

When she found Trick he was, indeed, trying on suits. For his role of father – well, grandfather – of the bride. It seemed strange to her to imagine Trick giving her away. But then, so much about this wedding wasn't what she'd pictured when she was young and still believed she was human. For example, because there were three different groups – Light Fae, Dark Fae, and human – their would be two aisles, one for Dyson to walk down and one for her to walk down. For another, she'd always pictured her adoptive parents there, but they'd died years ago.

Bo thought that that was probably why she wasn't as enthusiastic about her wedding as everyone felt she should be – because so little of it matched what she'd had in her head. And also, admittedly, because she was too busy right now to have time to be enthusiastic.

"Trick," she said. He turned around with a smile, which faded as he saw her expression. "We have a problem."

Trick sighed, closing his eyes momentarily. When he opened them again, he looked resigned. "Don't we always?"

She couldn't help but feel he had a point.

X_X_X_X

"Anything?" Bo asked. She'd called in Elva, as well as Piotr and Jesse, who had all worked for her for decades now. She considered them trustworthy enough to help in the hunt for Lauren, just barely. There was no way she could have gone through all the bar's customers by herself – hundreds had been through today to have a look at Lauren, laying bets on whether she was Fae or human.

Elva shook her head, looking defeated. "Not a thing. You could try your methods of persuasion, but I honestly think this lot didn't see a thing."

"Damn," Bo glared at the wall in frustration.

"I think Dyson's right," Elva said unexpectedly, "I don't think the Light Fae had anything to do with this."

Bo wheeled to point her glare at a more deserving target than the wall. "You think Lauren ran for it?"

"No," Elva took a step back. The entire time they'd been interrogating suspects, Bo had been burning with a furious energy she found unnerving. She'd never seen her boss so freaked out before, even if she was handling it with commendable control. "I mean, unless she has some pretty intense powers she hasn't told you about, there's no way she could have gotten out without someone seeing."

Bo suddenly saw where Elva was coming from. "Someone would need access to some pretty significant power to shanghai Lauren from right under Hale's nose, let alone the rest of them."

"And days worth of forward planning," Elva said. "The rules of Sanctuary are a form of magic, and way stations are inherently magical. It would definitely take planning and care to breach them." She sighed. "But see, that just brings us back to where we were. No one besides the Light Fae had enough notice and power to do this, and none of them seem to know a thing."

Bo paused. "And the Dark Fae. They have enough power."

"What? They'd only be getting the rumours about this now. Not enough time."

"Unless they knew she was coming," Bo said slowly. Something was nagging at her mind. "Oh, God. When the Ash came in the other night, he said he thought the rumours from the Dark Fae about Lauren being alive were bullshit. That means there have been rumours. The Morrigan could have set this up." She bit her lip. "We'd suspect the Light Fae of stealing her, the Light Fae would suspect us of hiding her… she wants them to kill me."

"No," Elva said. From the look on her face, she'd seen something Bo hadn't. "She wants to start a war."

"Between the Light and the Dark? That's suicide."

"No. Between you and the Light Fae."

Bo spluttered with laughter despite her tension. "The Light Fae versus me? Now there's the world's shortest battle."

"Bo," Bo saw that Elva was completely serious. "It wouldn't be a short battle. You have a lot of power, and Hale, Trick and Dyson aren't exactly pansies either, even if Trick doesn't write in his blood. Add in the rest of the agency, nearly all of whom would fight on your side -"

"They would?"

"- And thousands of other Fae," Elva continued. She gave a short bark of laughter. "God, you don't even realise how many followers you have. You gave people a third choice. You helped other Fae, regardless of the side they were on. You showed kindness to humans, to underfae, to everyone. You allowed anyone into the agency. You taught us new morals, new ideas, new freedoms."

"What?" Bo said, shocked. Elva had never talked like this before.

Elva met her eyes squarely. "The Dark Fae, the Light Fae, they haven't changed at all for thousands of years. There's no new ideas, no new blood. And then you came along with these radical ideas about marrying whoever you want and loving whoever you want and doing what's right and ignoring the old customs. Did you really think all those people joined the agency because they want to be detectives?"

"Well," Bo said, rattled. "Yes, I kind of did."

"They joined to watch you, to see you, to learn from you. They came to be disciples. They came to be part of changing the Fae world. You didn't make a company. You didn't even make a political party. You made a _religion_."

Bo gaped. "I'm sorry," she said, her voice slightly squeaky. "So basically what you're saying is, I'm the female Jesus of the Fae world, I'm writing your version of the New Testament, and I'm also leading the rebellion? Without even _noticing_?"

"Honestly, I thought the ignorance was a ploy so the Light and the Dark wouldn't gang up and assassinate you," Elva said frankly. She couldn't help a smile at Bo's expression of absolute shock. "I'm sorry. If it helps, think of yourself more as… I don't know… Nelson Mandela? It's just that you have all these new ideas. Young Fae, they see nothing changing, they're frustrated, they want to piss off their parents, they want to change the world. They might not like _all_ your ideas, but at a certain age the forbidden is very attractive. You've become a…symbol, I suppose. For change."

Bo passed a hand over her forehead feverishly. This was too… too _big_. She couldn't deal with this now. Worry about the fact that she was leader of a very quiet and slow rebellion another time. Right now, concentrate on smaller things. Concentrate on Lauren. "All right," she said, managing to contain her shock. "Back to what we were talking about. Do you think the Dark might have taken Lauren just to provoke the Light into attacking me? So that we'd wipe each other out, or at least weaken each other to the point where the Dark can take over?"

Elva shrugged, glad to return to a less big-picture topic. "Maybe. But if they'd just waited for the Ash to claim Lauren again, wouldn't you have attacked them anyway?"

"No," Bo said. Suddenly she understood the Morrigan's motives. It would have made no sense before, but if Elva was right about the kind of support Bo had it made total sense. If Lauren had been found to be Fae, she would have been free, so there would have been no fight. But if Lauren had been found to be human, and Mia didn't show up in time, Bo would have tried to make some kind of deal. She probably had things the Ash wanted – in fact, the wily bastard might have been after Lauren just to get something Bo wanted. On the other hand, if Mia had shown up in time, the ownership of Lauren would be in question.

They wouldn't have entered all-out war, though, not over a human. They would have made a deal, given away land rights or magical artefacts or something. So whatever happened, whether Lauren was ruled to be human or not, she would have spent only a brief time with the Ash and there would have been no fight. In fact, even if there was a fight within the ranks of the Light Fae, all that would mean is that more people would start to see the sense in Bo's opinions. The Dark Fae would not be able to take over without dealing with Bo first, and the Morrigan at least knew how dangerous Bo could be.

However… if Lauren was missing… then the Ash would take that as a sign that Bo was no longer following his rules at all. He would see it as a sign of rebellion. And when he went to take her in, if Elva could be believed, people would fight for her. Lots of them. And she would have encouraged them, too, if she hadn't worked it out. She would have called the Ash a traitor to the laws he'd sworn to uphold. She would have been so furiously afraid for Lauren she wouldn't have been able to think. The Ash and her would have both made it their cause, their reason to fight. They would have started a war. Mia's Fae might join in, because of the disrespect to the Argan. A three-way war over Lauren could have resulted.

"That bitch," Bo said out loud, amazed that her voice was even. She turned for the door.

"What's up?" Elva said, confused. "Where are you going?"

"To kick Evony's skanky, bitchy ass," Bo said.

* * *

**It is now six minutes into Christmas here, and I definitely have to get to bed. My older brother wakes me at five Christmas morning every damn year so we can check our stockings, despite the fact he is now twenty-two. Guess we're all just kids at heart, huh? Anyway, Merry Christmas to you all! I apologise for a chapter without any Bo/Lauren interaction, but I promise there'll be some tomorrow. Also, if anyone notices any illogical parts, feel free to point them out to me, since I'm operating on not as much sleep as I would like right now.**

**Several people have wondered in the reviews what deal Dyson backed out of with the Norn. I actually meant the deal he made on the show - since he did, effectively, screw the Norn out of her side of it. He basically made a deal, got her help, yelled at her several times, got her threatened by a crazy human with a chainsaw, and then took back what he'd promised in exchange for her help. If I was her, I'd be annoyed. I mean, he didn't have to make the deal (and in fact, any intelligent person would not have made the deal. Or at least would have made it with very clear wording. Seriously, I questioned his IQ when he made a deal with her, especially since there's so many other ways he could have gone about helping Bo). Of course the Norn was gonna screw him over somehow - you pash a snake, you don't get to whine about being bitten. So while she's evil, in this situation I actually think she was the injured party (but then. I think in weird ways). Anyway. Sorry if I didn't make it clear that that's what the Norn's grudge is about.**

**Merry Christmas, guys. Hope you all get what you wanted and have a fantastic day.**


	13. Chapter 12

CHAPTER 12

"_It's so weird, Kenz'," Bo sipped her tea, trying to ignore Kenzi's struggles with that most evil of enemies – a full diaper. "Can you believe it's been nearly fifteen years?"_

"_Aargh!" Kenzi threw the diaper in the vague direction of the bin, apparently not noticing when it missed. Bo winced. "Why do they make these things so fucking sticky?"_

"_And smelly," Bo agreed, wrinkling her nose at the child._

_Kenzi gave her an irritated look. "I meant the diaper, Bo, not my mini-me. She's adorable."_

"_You said she looked like a purple raisin yesterday," Bo gave the child a considered look and decided Kenzi's description had been essentially accurate. Not that she didn't adore her god-daughter, of course._

"_She does. Just, you know, a cute purple raisin. And I've nearly convinced her to say her first word, too," Kenzi added. She raised the child so they were face to face. "Fuck. Repeat after me. Fuck. C'mon, sweetie, I want you to shock the fuck out of all those soccer moms – not that they have much fuck in them, anyway. Just say 'fuck'."_

_Bo raised her eyebrows. "I thought you wanted her first word to be 'daddy'."_

"_Only if I can convince her to say it to Hale," Kenzi said evilly. "Can you imagine the look on his face?"_

"_He'd be thrilled that she thought of him as a father. He loves her," Bo argued._

"_So he says, but every time I ask him to babysit he makes an excuse. I think he's just waiting till she turns cute, and then he's gonna use her to get tail. You know, pretend to be a sad widowed single dad, act out a romantic comedy except with the twist that it's really a woman scorned movie where the girl will end up never trusting men again until she meets a younger guy with the soul of a poet who helps her rediscover her happiness. Either that or a woman scorned movie where she takes a machete and it turns into a revenge story with lots of blood and feminism. I like that one better."_

"_Wow." Bo was honestly impressed. "I think… no, I know it… you've actually gotten crazier since you discovered parenthood."_

"_Anyway," Kenzi carefully put the child down and turned her attention to her best friend. "What were you talking about?"_

"_I've honestly forgotten."_

"_Fifteen years," Kenzi prompted._

"_Oh! That's how long it's been since I've seen Lauren," Bo bit her lip sadly. "It's just… I can't believe it's been that long."_

"_Yeah," Kenzi said. "She'll be ancient now. I don't think she went fat, she doesn't look like the type, but I reckon scrawny. Like a chicken. And probably lonely because she never found anyone as good as you. Lonely and scrawny and sad. Is this helping?"_

"_A little," Bo thought about it. "Actually, no. Not really. I wonder if her aura's changed. I always loved her aura. Do auras ever change?"_

"_Probably. Can auras get scrawny?"_

_Bo smiled. It was a little watery. "I doubt it. Thanks, Kenz'. I love you. I know it's stupid that I still think about her."_

_Kenzi patted her shoulder comfortingly. "Hey, it's okay. I understand. She had magical lady bits. And now that you're all settled down and monogamous, you can't go out and find another person with magical lady bits, and that makes you miss the magical lady bits that have come before."_

_Bo laughed. She allowed the conversation to return to other things, listening to Kenzi talk about her family's many flaws and utter perfection (sometimes in the same sentence), but her mind still dwelled on the past._

_X_X_X_X_

"_I need to tell you something," Dyson said that night. He was at the computer. He'd been considering whether or not to bring it up all week. He knew that Bo still thought about Lauren, and he wasn't sure if what he was about to say would cure that completely, or only make it worse. But she had to know, and maybe it would finally prompt her to give up on the other woman for good._

"_What's up?"_

_Dyson hesitated. "A police station in England sent us a report about a body they'd found. A woman's skeleton, late forties early fifties. There was Canadian money near the body. They wanted to know if we knew who she was, got us to check her against missing persons."_

"_Yes?" Bo came to stand behind him and he pulled up the artist's recreation. "That doesn't look like anyone I know."_

"_It's only the artist's best guess," Dyson said. "Imagine her with a thinner nose, wider mouth."_

_Suddenly Bo saw what he meant. "No. No, it's not Lauren."_

"_I sent her picture to the artist," Dyson persevered. "He said it's possible it's her." In actuality, the artist had said it was unlikely but possible, but Dyson himself was absolutely sure. A woman as nervous and foolish as Lauren, moving around a lot, without any friends? And with her glowing, and whatever other signs she might give off that she wasn't normal? She may as well have been holding up an Eat Me sign for Fae. In fact, any Fae that recognised her that she couldn't bluff would have to immediately kill her to protect the secrecy of the Fae world from humans. And the doctor was no good at bluffing, no good at making choices for herself without the Ash or Bo pulling the strings, and absolutely no good at roughing it, Dyson thought. As far as Dyson was concerned, there were only two surprises here – firstly that it had taken so long, and secondly that anyone had found the body._

_Bo was shaking her head slowly. "I don't believe it."_

"_I'm sorry, Bo," and Dyson was. He hated to see Bo in pain, and now that Lauren was gone, he could afford to be magnanimous. "She was a good person. A good doctor."_

"_No, I really don't believe it."_

"_Read the description. Late forties, early fifties, that's how old Lauren would be now. Blonde hair. Found near a hospital, which makes sense since she was a doctor. And the artist says the face could be right." Dyson could see from Bo's face that she was starting to believe it._

"_Why tell me this, Dyson?" Tears appeared in Bo's eyes. "What is this, like some kind of final fuck you to Lauren?"_

"_No!" Dyson got up and pulled her against him, trying to comfort her. "I just thought you deserved to know." He faltered, then added, "I just didn't want you to wait forever, for someone who can't come back."_

_X_X_X_X_

"_Bobo, I know you've been down in the dumps since Dyson told you about the doc," Kenzi said, pulling Bo along by her arm._

"_What? No, I'm fine."_

_Kenzi rolled her eyes. "Listen, I dressed in my fancy clothes for this. I even washed my hair."_

"_It has vomit in it," Bo pointed out, allowing Kenzi to drag her anyway. They seemed to be going into a park._

"_Really? Fuck." Kenzi glowered. "Babies are so fucking messy. I remember the good old days when the only vomit I got in my hair was my own. Or yours, once or twice. Ooh! Or that hot guys, what was his name, you remember, the one with the pierced -"_

"_Focus, Kenz'."_

"_What? Oh. Yeah. Well, we're here."_

"_This isn't another fair, is it?" Bo couldn't help being suspicious. In the past, Kenzi's attempts to cheer her up had generally been illegal or at the very least inadvisable. Once she'd made her go on the funnest ride at the fair seventeen times, not taking into account that it was a spinny one. Neither of them had been able to get out of bed for three days._

_Kenzi rolled her eyes again. She seemed to have vastly increased how often she did that since becoming a mother. "No. I'm saving that for your birthday. _Look_, Bo."_

_Bo looked where the girl was pointing. There was a rock – more of a slab – in the ground. Melted onto it was Lauren's pendant – well, not really. Actually, Kenzi had split Lauren's pendant in half and glued both sides on. They were still both on the chain, which hadn't been done up and lay in loops on the slab. Below it, metal writing read:_

For Lauren. She died free and brave, and will be missed. A lot.

"_The other guys weren't sure about the inscription," Kenzi said nervously. "And, I mean, we're still not sure. Like, _sure_ sure, anyway. She could still be out there. But I just thought, in case it was her, we should have this. You know. To remember the fallen. I mean, Ciara got like a big funeral and everything. Lauren fought with us as well, so I just thought -"_

_Kenzi was cut off as Bo embraced her. She could feel Bo's body shaking as the succubus started to cry. Bo talked, sobbing and faltering as she spoke about wishes, and missing people, and dreams that were hard to let go of. And amends, and goodbyes. And loneliness. And mistakes that you could never quite take back, no matter how much you wanted._

_And Kenzi thought about her home and her little baby and the man she loved, and she wept for Bo who on the outside seemed to have everything, but who still couldn't get over a ghost._

* * *

"Thanks, Issor," Bo said genuinely.

Issor was Dark Fae, one of her only Dark Fae employees, and definitely the only Dark Fae she trusted as far as she could throw. Of course it helped that at several hundred pounds she definitely couldn't throw him far – even for him her trust was pretty limited. She'd been honestly surprised when he had immediately agreed to help her break into the Dark Fae compound.

"You're welcome," he muttered now. "Ten thousand dollar raise, right?"

"Yes."

He squinted into the darkness ahead. "How about fifteen?"

"You're lucky I'm not firing you," A voice came from behind them. When Bo whirled around, she saw it was Dyson. Hale, Elva and one of her other employees Jesse were with him. "When Bo and I get married, I'm going to put that on my to-do list. 'Fire anyone stupid enough to let my mate commit suicide'. I'll make a note of it."

Bo shot an accusing glance at Elva, who flushed and looked at the ground. "You went and got _Dyson_?"

"Sorry," Elva said, shamefaced. "He was the only one who could track you. And we're helping. We want to help. All of us."

"All of us being the four of you?"

"No," Jesse said. Normally he rarely spoke, but he'd apparently decided it was necessary now. His voice was unexpectedly deep. "All of us as in the entire firm. I press one button on my phone and they storm the compound. If we need backup."

"I figured right now it's an undercover op," Elva said helpfully. "We're trying not to get caught, so we should have only a few people. However, if we do get caught, we'll need firepower." She coughed and flames flew out of her mouth. "I mean, more firepower."

"Also, Trick's got something up his sleeves," Hale said. "He's making more phone calls, trying to get Lauren's new owner here as quickly as possible. Man, that girl gets around owner-wise."

"Maybe literally," Bo said in an undertone, thinking of Mia's obvious attraction to Lauren. But that wasn't the issue right now. They had bigger problems. Besides, Mia was a succubus, so it was possible she was attracted to everyone.

Bo decided just to go with it. It looked like this wasn't going to be a solo mission after all. "All right. Let's go, then."

Strolling in through the back way proved surprisingly easy. Dyson scouted ahead, using his advanced hearing and smell to locate problems before they appeared. Bo had to kiss two guards into unconsciousness, but she was very careful to leave them still breathing to avoid political problems – though she was faintly disgusted that she'd learned to care about political problems. Fifty years ago she would have left them alive out of morality, not practicality.

There were more guards further in. After a whispered conference Elva snuck to the other side of the building. Bo pressed her hand meaningfully before she went. "Thank you," she whispered. Elva just smiled. Jesse, after a second, followed her for protection. He gave Bo a nod and disappeared.

Ten minutes later, smoke was curling through the building. All the fire alarms were going off. Guards rushed to the source of the noise. They had their distraction.

It was go time.

X_X_X_X

They advanced cautiously. Bo wondered what Hale and Dyson were thinking. Were they thinking, as she was, that they were missing members? Lauren and Kenzi should have been there with them.

Bo came to an abrupt stop as Dyson raised his hand. "She's in there," he whispered. Bo stopped by the door. She held a finger up to her lips and put her ear to the door, trusting that the other two's advanced senses would allow them to listen too.

"How much longer is this going to take?" It was the Morrigan's voice, impatient and autocratic as always. "I have a nail appointment in ten minutes. This shade doesn't suit my skin since that session in the sunbed. And I have to do something about that awful racket. I swear to God, if the guard captain is smoking again he's being promoted to being the new rug in my office."

"It will be finished in five," an underling assured her. "I've done this a lot of times, I'm much quicker than human doctors. I also take the sample from a different area, and -" he droned on.

_How many?_ Bo mouthed the words to Dyson.

_Just them_, Dyson mouthed back. _And Lauren._

"Guess she's keeping it low-key," Hale muttered under his breath. "Doesn't want anyone leaking the info to the Ash." Bo glared him into silence.

"So this will tell us what happened to her? Why she's still so young and pretty?" Evony's voice was mocking.

The underling was clearly still new enough that he hadn't realised Evony asked questions just to hear her own voice. "It will give us a better idea, yes. Bone marrow samples often give us a clear indication -"

"Just hurry up and do it, Squigley," the Morrigan snapped.

"What about painkillers? I need to go and get some -"

"What about them? They won't affect the results, will they?"

The implication was obvious. There was some awe in the luckless Squigley's voice as he replied, "No, ma'am. I'll, er, get started then."

There was a muffled noise. Bo clenched her fists as she recognised it as Lauren's voice, stifled by some kind of gag. Even through whatever it was, she could hear the panic and fear in her friend's voice. She remembered reading somewhere that taking bone marrow samples was as painful as breaking a bone – and if she knew that, then Lauren knew ten times as much. It was no wonder she was freaking out.

Then the muffled pleas turned into a scream. It went on and on. Dyson grabbed Bo before she could react, holding her close to him, binding her with his body. He was being careful. Squigley had unknown powers – he thought it would be best to take on the Morrigan when she came out the door, and then deal with the Fae scientist when they could all attack at once. Bo's eyes slowly, slowly turned blue as the rage within her built higher then she'd ever felt it.

The thought that it was Lauren making those noises was unbearable. She remembered seeing Lauren curled up on the floor in the lab, nearly ripped apart by savage Fae. That had been agony, but it had been a selfish agony – she hadn't been in pain at the thought of what Lauren had been through, she had been in pain at the thought of being forever without Lauren. It had taken time for her thoughts to turn towards what Lauren had been through. Right now, though, there was no selfishness in Bo's thoughts – only a terrible, terrible horror. She could finally understand why Lauren had asked her to end Nadia's life all those years ago – something Bo thought she would never have been able to do if it were Dyson or Lauren. She thought she would have kept them around selfishly, even if they were in unimaginable pain, even if they begged her to kill them.

But if listening to Nadia beg for them to kill her had hurt Lauren anywhere near as much as Lauren's screams were hurting Bo now, she understood how you could do anything to stop that.

Dyson breathed in sharply as Bo allowed her succubus power, her darker side, to start taking her over. He could feel the power in her body. She knew better than to make a loud noise (what if the Morrigan killed Lauren to destroy the evidence and witness to her theft?) but she said, very quietly, "If you don't let me go, I will stab you," to Dyson. Her voice was nearly covered by the ongoing screaming.

Dyson cocked an eyebrow. She could feel it even if she couldn't see it, facing the other way. It was like something an exasperated parent would do when confronted by a child threatening to hold their breath – like of course she wouldn't hurt him. But all Bo could think of right now was that noise, the screaming. It raked her ears. Outside she still looked calm, largely because she was letting her colder, more powerful side take over, but a voice inside her was screaming right along with Lauren. Inside her there was chaos and raw pain and brutality and the determination to do whatever was necessary to save her girl. From the moment she knew Lauren was gone she'd allowed herself to think about anything else, to turn into a zombie, to concentrate on the practicalities. But inside she felt so much that she thought if she expressed it she would explode into a white-hot ball of rage and fear.

In one swift movement Bo drew her knife. Dyson loosened his grip on her a bit in surprise, though he honestly still didn't believe she'd hurt him. Then, so quickly he couldn't stop her, the knife flashed towards his stomach.

When using her powers Bo became more ruthless, nevertheless, she was able to reverse the knife enough so that only the handle hit him – hard, in an area no one really wanted to be hit in. He made a strange gurgling noise. At the same time she stamped hard on his foot and twisted out of his grip completely.

If the only way to get out of his grip had been to stab him, though, she would have done it. She knew that with absolute surety.

"Jesus Christ, the racket's even worse in here!" The Morrigan complained, stamping over to the door and flinging it open to leave.

At that exact moment, Bo broke completely free of Dyson, who fell to the floor making a whimpering sound. Seeing the woman who'd given the command to hurt Lauren, she exploded into full power, the chi running through her very nearly audible. Hale described it later as the edge of a sound, like a strange, high-pitched buzzing noise.

The Morrigan didn't have time to react before Bo's hand was lifting her into the air by her throat. She made a kind of choking sound, pawing helplessly at Bo's iron grip, and then narrowed her eyes, bringing her full concentration to bear on Bo. Somewhere deep inside Bo knew she was about to be splattered by the Dark Fae's powers but the succubus was in control, and the succubus quite simply didn't care.

Then Hale slammed into them, bringing them both down, already whistling something that sounded unearthly. The screaming stopped, dying down to an unearthly moaning, and Dyson bounded past in his wolf form (still making uncomfortable grunting noises and limping slightly), diving for Squigley as the scientist looked up from his work.

The Morrigan made a groaning noise and passed out. Squigley fell to the floor in terror almost immediately, proving decisively that any powers he possessed were completely useless in combat, so that all the Dyson got to do was growl threateningly. He was sort of disappointed since he was in severe pain and would have loved an excuse to take a bite out of someone. It appeared that the threat was over.

Except that the threat was no longer that of the Dark Fae. Now the threat was that of an out-of-control succubus. Bo had allowed her fear for Lauren to take her too far - if they had just attacked immediately instead of Dyson grabbing her, the fight would already be over, and the darker side of her would not have been able to gain enough momentum. Now it had.

Bo could feel the other side of her take over – the side that fed on power and pain. It wasn't a choice she made, to allow it, but instead something utterly out of her control. It was no longer brown-eyed, moral Bo who acted, it was the blue-eyed, ruthless succubus. The succubus reached out and tore away the chi of all those near to her – of all those worth getting power from, anyway. She stripped a large portion from the wolf. Mmm, it was like candy. And the Siren – so much untapped potential. She couldn't remember their names, not as she was at this moment, but she could remember they'd once been important as something other than food. No matter. Now they were just power.

Evony was like a full buffet by herself. The potential of all those different musicians and artists, the destructive power of the Morrigan herself, was like drugs to Bo's alter-ego. The power flowed into her, brightening her skin, turning her eyes a blue so intense that it was painful to look at. It exploded in little bursts inside her, heating her blood. But it wasn't enough. It wasn't like eating, where you did and then were satisfied. Each drop of power only made you long for one drop more. Draining one person would be too much, but the entire room – the entire compound – might not be enough… where did it stop? It stopped with the world. It stopped when you were something besides human, something besides Fae. It was a hunger that devoured everything, and when there was nothing left to devour, it devoured itself. Right now, somewhere deep inside the succubus, the tiny core of her that was Bo could feel it devouring her.

Squigley was like an after-dinner mint, if that. Nothing compared to the power of the others. He gave no resistance as she stripped everything from him, not powerful enough to even temporarily retain his life force. The succubus could already feel the whole compound – dozens and dozens of delicious power snacks. Some were coming, even now, alerted by the desperate little screams her meals were making. But they would take a while. She needed more sources of food _now_.

There was a human on the bed, a naked one. She had ignored it, uncaring, assuming its power to be less than any of the others. It was human, after all. Now as her senses raged the succubus realised she'd been wrong. There was a purity to the chi emanating from the human – and there was so much chi! Quite unexpectedly powerful. She yanked it to her, desperate to taste it, as she floated closer, no longer needing to do things so mundane as walking. The human gave a little sigh as her essence began draining away, but nevertheless managed to force herself to her feet. She was limping, one of her legs clearly in severe pain beside everything else, possibly from her kidnapping or whatever had been done to her here. It must have taken a lot of willpower to get up.

The succubus was impressed.

"Bo," the human said weakly, "Bo, please."

The succubus frowned. "There is no Bo. There is only me. And I am _power._" Her voice echoed strangely, powerfully.

"Please," the human said, stumbling forward on feet that had to feel like lead weights, wincing in pain. She was within a metre of the succubus now.

The succubus was draining power from everyone in the room, but there was nothing so delicious as this little naked, helpless human. But she couldn't be human, not with that kind of power. "What are you?" the succubus wanted to know. Her other self knew. This self only knew about what it wanted. "You taste _delicious_."

The human's eyes flashed - not with anything magical, but with spirit and desperation. Lauren, the succubus suddenly remembered. The human's name was Lauren. "So do you."

And then Lauren lunged forwards and pressed her mouth against the succubus'. And Bo, obedient to her need and her hunger and her love, kissed her back.

* * *

**Merry Christmas! Hope you all had (are having?) a great one.**

**I know very little about bone marrow extraction. I just went with what I know from a book I read, which is that they're supposed to hurt a lot. If I'm wrong about that, someone tell me a type of test that is incredibly painful, and I'll re-edit this so it says that instead.**

**Call me a romanticist, but I really wanted Bo to hit Dyson in the groin at some point. In case you can't tell so far, I'm not really a fan of Dyson. I don't believe he's a bad person, but to me at least, he's definitely an annoying one. In the wider picture of this fic he's a good guy, but on a personal level not so much, I guess.**

**As always: please tell me if you spot any errors, and thanks for all of you who took time out from your busy Christmases to say you liked the last chapter.**


	14. Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

_Lauren was in Africa. It wasn't the first time she'd been here, and she suspected it wouldn't be the last. It was looking like she would have a lot of years to fill._

_At first Lauren thought she was imagining it. That maybe she was aging, but she was so arrogant she couldn't see it. So she started to check her skin, her face, her body carefully for signs of age. Naturally, she started to see them, conjuring them with her own expectations – wrinkles, sagging, weight gain, weight loss – but she couldn't find anything to back them up. The scales said she was exactly the same. Other people thought she looked exactly the same. One day in America, around her fiftieth birthday, she was even carded in a bottle shop. After some thought she gave some X-rays of herself to an anthropologist she knew. He came back with the news that the 'specimen' was in her thirties. Bones didn't lie._

_There was no doubt about it. Lauren wasn't aging anymore._

_The first night she absolutely believed it she went to a bar and decided to get drunk for the first time since France. She didn't pick anyone up though. She just sat in the corner, downing shot after shot, staring grimly at the wall. After about her twentieth she gave up, completely sober – she wasn't in the right mood to be drunk. Her body and reactions were affected, but her brain was exactly the same as always._

_It was ironic. There were so many people who wanted to live forever, and here was Lauren blackly horrified at the thought. Perhaps it was because it meant she really couldn't ever find friends or family again, for more reasons than her fugitive status. Now she couldn't because if they were human, she would have to watch them die of old age, and they would notice she wasn't aging and become suspicious. And if they were Fae, they'd find out she was human or they'd run into someone who recognised her and the jig would be up. She would always be alone._

_Or perhaps her horror at the idea was just what it meant – that she was no longer human. Not human, not Fae – an accidentally created hybrid. A Frankenstein's monster, a mule, a chimera. Something that wasn't meant to be. She was in No Man's Land, caught between two species, not able to be either._

_Perhaps it was suicidal impulses that night in Africa years later when she chose to go into a Fae bar._

_There wasn't really much else it could be. At the time she thought of it as some cross between homesickness for the Dal, and a desire to be around other people who felt the weight of thousands of years of future life hanging on them. Except to them it was something they were used to. It wasn't a weight they were forced to carry, it was a gift they held proudly, an inheritance they expected. Later she realised that had very little to do with her reasons – secretly what she wanted was to be noticed, dragged back home. Not just because of what she'd left behind, but because she was so exhausted with the constant running._

_She probably wouldn't have stayed more than fifteen minutes at the bar except that she spotted an injured Hyren. She'd had a Hyren patient before, and had studied him extensively. Sitting and watching this Hyren worsening his condition annoyed her. It was probably the same suicidal tendencies that made her speak to him. She couldn't stop herself from going over and explaining exactly what he was doing wrong, and what he should eat and drink to cure his problem, even though it interrupted his date and he didn't look at all grateful._

_His date did look grateful though. She introduced herself to Lauren and reached out a hand for her to shake. When Lauren took it she could feel the golden energy sliding down her arm. "You'll stay and drink with me, won't you?" Mia said, smirking. She had only been with the Hyren to soften him up anyway. She was trying to rise politically and needed his support. Beyond sex, if there was anything Mia was addicted to, it was power and authority. But the beautiful blonde in front of her trumped her need for power. The moment she saw her, Mia wanted her._

_The power controlling her, and the lust and adoration it inspired, meant that Lauren was physically unable to say no to having a drink with Mia. She was also unable to say no when Mia dragged her into the ally outside, abandoning the now-sullen Hyren._

_However, when the succubus kissed her, Mia ended up jerking away and touching her hand to her mouth. "You don't taste like anything I've ever tasted before," she said, a little surprised. "My father had the ability to scan Fae, and I inherited some of it. You're not anything I've ever seen before. I know it's rude -" she slid more power into Lauren, smiling slyly, "But won't you tell me anyway? What kind of Fae are you?" It was an idle question, a moment of curiosity._

_The question made her remember. _What kind are you? _Hadn't Bo asked her that once? _The insatiably curious human doctor kind, _her own voice echoed across the years. Right before the first time Bo touched her. This eerily paralleled that – another succubus, another set of dark eyes fixed on her. The similarity made her pull away, gasping. "Don't touch me," Lauren warned, backing away to the opposite wall. "No! Don't!" _

_Mia looked at her. It was like she was really studying her for the first time. "You're not Fae," she whispered. "I can see the marks of chi on you, in your bones. Someone else's chi. You aren't Fae. You're human. What… what happened to you?"_

_Lauren bolted into the night, but it was useless. Mia was faster and stronger than her and knew the streets a lot better. She caught up with her in minutes. Mia used her power to turn Lauren's mind to putty and dragged her to her home, but it wasn't for seduction. She drugged Lauren with her power, pouring more and more of it into her, and then she started asking questions. Knowledge was power. Mia liked power._

_Lauren resisted. She twitched. But she told. She told about her slavery to the Ash, and Nadia, and a little bit about the others. But Bo was the sticking point. All Mia could get from her was that Bo was someone she'd loved. If she questioned Lauren any further about it Lauren could somehow pull her mind away, regain control again. To Mia, who didn't understand control in herself or other people, this was fascinating. Mia had never had to use control – she drained, she took, she did whatever she liked, and her powers always meant that no one blamed her, no one held her accountable._

_By morning she had most of the story, lacking only some details, such as how Lauren came to have the chi in her system, or why exactly she'd left her home. Mia also realised her power was beginning to lose its effect – it was acting under the law of diminishing returns, which Mia had never thought applied to her powers. Normally when someone was given more and more, they just became completely under her spell. But Lauren breaking out of her control time and time again because of the memory of Bo meant that Lauren knew the feeling deep in the back of her mind that made her break away, and she could use it whenever she wanted. The feelings she had for Bo were so strong that Lauren herself couldn't control them, and Mia's powers certainly couldn't either. When Lauren brought that feeling to the front of her mind it shocked away everything else. Perhaps it was the chi Bo had marked her so thoroughly with, or the echoes of Bo's power in her fighting off Mia's power, or just love. Whatever it was, Lauren knew how to free her mind now. So when, Mia, curiosity satiated, attempted to get her to satisfy other hungers, she was able to say no._

_If anything this fascinated Mia more. Her original plan had been to sleep with Lauren and drain her completely, because she didn't believe in controlling her appetites. But somehow instead of her gaining control over Lauren, Lauren gained it over her. She became possibly the first person in history to be crushed on by a succubus without returning the feeling._

_And it was just a crush. There was no love on either end. But Mia was used to wanting someone, taking them, and leaving them either unconscious (Fae) or dead (humans). She'd never felt anything stronger than attraction before so for her, a crush felt like the greatest love story of all time. Mia decided to get Lauren to want her back. She even agreed to go through Lauren's injections and succubus training just so she wouldn't kill her._

_Lauren was aware that Mia was attracted to her, but never thought of it as more than that. She was determined to train the succubus, though, at least to save the lives of others. Also, Mia reminded her of Bo, a little. A very little. It was mainly just the succubus thing. Nevertheless, she wondered if Mia was Bo's cousin, Bo's second cousin, Bo's great aunt. They looked nothing alike, but it was all still possible. She never asked._

_Once Mia gained a degree of control Lauren informed her she was moving on. Mia, who had never failed at a challenge before in her life, was desolate. So she struck a deal, to buy herself more time to get this strange intransigent human willingly into bed with her and accomplish other goals as well._

"_You say you have to keep moving on, before someone notices you aren't aging," Mia said. "What if I found you somewhere where that wouldn't be a problem?"_

"_I can't imagine where that would be." Lauren was neatly packing her suitcase._

"_My home area has a lot of villages," Mia said. "It's where I was born. The villages around thought my family were ghosts, because none of us aged. They're used to living legends there…. And they're good sorts, for humans. Very respectful and too scared to ever talk. They'll think you're a ghost too."_

"_So I could terrify a whole village?" Lauren said wryly._

"_I was thinking more like treat a whole village," Mia decided to go the whole way on this idea. "You can change villages whenever you feel like it, as well, so long as you stay in the area. I was thinking we could make a deal. To protect you. You could pretend to belong to me, as my human. You wouldn't actually," she said hastily, as Lauren's brow creased. "It would just be pretend. In case any Fae ever bothers you. You can say you're my human, and that the reason you don't age is because a Salmi bled on you."_

_The Salmi were ancient Fae who supposedly had blood with the power to grant youth. They had all been killed long ago. "They're extinct. Hunters bled them out thousands of years ago."_

"_Yes, but if there was one, hypothetically, there's nowhere it would be more likely to be than the wilds of Africa. My linage is irreproachable. People will believe me if I say my human was trying to cure a Salmi and got bled on. And you'll be in remote villages, so you won't see Fae very often. And when you do they'll know you're mine and be too afraid to ask questions."_

_Lauren looked confused, but not against the plan. "If I'm in a remote village, why would I see Fae at all?"_

"_I'll bring you sick Fae," Mia said. She'd already worked this out. It would give her a good reason to see Lauren frequently and wear her down – she could say she needed to make sure the Fae didn't attack Lauren, or ask her questions. She also had her own plans – disease was rife in this area, even for Fae, and Mia had always had the ambition to gain more power. The current Argan had tortured his way to power, and was approaching the end of his life. Mia would go the opposite way. If she was able to get Light Fae medical help, they would flock to support her. "That's what I would get out of it. You get to live in one of my family's old cottages, where I will supply you with food, water, and medical supplies. You'll have my protection which I assure you is absolute. In return, I get to pretend you belong to me," Mia made the words sound as seductive as possible. "And whenever I ask you to treat a Light Fae, you have to say yes."_

"_What about Dark Fae?"_

_Mia shrugged. The Dark Fae meant nothing to her. "If you want to treat them, treat them."_

_It took nearly a year for Mia to stop joining Lauren for all her sessions, which for the succubus was practically a lifetime. She still had a mild crush on Lauren but didn't have the patience to keep up the onslaught forever. Now that she was the Argan, she didn't have the time either. So while she would occasionally attempt seduction, mostly she and Lauren had a relationship that was half friendship and half business. Lauren grew to think of her as a sort of receptionist, sending her patients or the address of patients but rarely coming to see her._

_Mia did her best to stop rumours spreading, using the threat of death to keep her Fae in line. She informed them that if they told anyone about the mysterious White Ghost who treated them, not only would they die, but their families would die (Lauren was unaware of this threat). In Uganda, that was par for the course for Fae leaders. They believed her and attempted to keep their mouths shut._

_But of course, one day a Dark Fae patient Lauren had found and treated spoke to the Muhingo about her. He assumed she was unaligned and started to search. Mia promised to hide her, but Lauren knew that this wasn't a refuge that could last forever, so she chose a girl in the village to train as her replacement. There were no concrete escape plans made, but there was the hint it would not be long. The whole region was getting more dangerous as the Muhingo grew more insane._

_And far away the Norn, who could sense many, many things, thought that it would soon be time to pay off an old score that she had left alone for decades._

* * *

The kiss slammed through Bo. The heat raced through her veins – the same as the power she had taken, and yet different. Warm instead of burning. Sweet instead of fiery. In was like hot sweet tea replacing curry – blander, but more comforting and soft. Or perhaps like melted chocolate, instead of an injection of heroin. Addictive, but not in a dangerous way, and so sweetly beautiful it made you want to smile. It was love. Lauren was shoving love into her – taking advantage of the succubus's attempt to drain her chi by giving her something else to drain instead.

Lauren had Bo's chi inside of her. It was burned into her very bones, her muscles, intertwined with her life force. It was understandable that Bo draining her would not have as much effect as it would on the others – like could not hurt like. But Lauren had also had sixty-eight years of producing far more chi than she needed. Stored inside her was so much chi that she gave some off whenever she touched anyone, but she didn't touch too many people, so it stayed stored there. Pushing most of it into Bo, at the same time as shoving in the overwhelming force of her true feelings for Bo, had the same effect as a surge of electricity tripping a switch. The love was for Bo herself, not the succubus, so the power went to her inside the corner she was still in control of. She used it to gain full control over herself again, forcing her other self, her id, back into the darkness inside herself.

After a few seconds, Bo pulled away. For once, she was the one left gasping. "Lauren," she said, her voice croaky. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She could feel tears running down her cheeks.

"No apologies for us?" Hale said, his voice a thread. He sounded impossibly weak. When she looked at him he was pale under his dark skin, and the whites of his eyes were bloodshot, but he still managed a faint grin. He was trying very hard not to stare at Lauren's naked body, and very nearly managing it. Dyson didn't look any healthier than his old partner, and he was still curled into himself as if the worst pain was where she'd hit him. Bo tried to feel guilty about hitting her fiancé, especially when he'd only just survived being poisoned, but she couldn't. He should have known better than to have held her back. If they'd acted immediately everything would have gone better anyway – it was his own fault for not having trusted her to do the best thing, for assuming his plan of waiting was better than her idea of immediate attack.

The Morrigan was pulling herself up, barely conscious again. She leant against the wall, only half-able to stand, looking stunned. Squigley was on the ground. Bo could see from his aura that he was dead and felt worse. She let out a noise that was half moan, half sob.

"It's okay," Lauren soothed her, like she was small child. "It's okay. It's not your fault. We're not angry at you."

"We're not?" The Morrigan's voice was sharp and a little crazy. "Yes, I am! Guards!"

Bo looked at the door. Sure enough, there were guards there, a long row of them. But they didn't move at Evony's command.

Dyson started to laugh hoarsely, despite his pain. "You should really get to know the underlings, Morrigan," he mocked. "Those aren't yours. I can smell it on them…. I can smell…"

"Hello, Evony," Mia's voice came from behind the line of guards. She carefully stepped around one so she was in view, giving him an apologetic smile and a flash of cleavage as she did so. "I'm so sorry I'm late, I was in the middle of a wonderful session with a Swedish gymnast." She calmly shrugged off the long coat she was wearing, revealing a very short dress beneath it, and tossed the coat to the naked Lauren to cover herself with. "Nice look, sweetie, but save it for our hotel room, m'kay?"

The Morrigan stared at her. "Who the hell are you?"

"The Argan," Mia said with a smile. "I'm sure you're aware of the title, though I don't believe we've met personally for about five hundred years. You came to one of my mother's dinner parties. It was the most boring night ever, though as I do recall you attempted to seduce my uncle Nigel which livened things up a bit since he was a hundred percent gay. It was very funny to watch, even though I was only about ten at the time."

It was clear from Evony's expression that she wasn't in the mood for reminiscing. "What are you doing here?"

"Reclaiming my property, under our law," Mia said promptly. "Lauren, come along now. You do get in the most entertaining situations." Mia's smile became sharp. "I don't advise you detain me, Evony. You've already broken quite a few laws and I imagine you know it. If I inform the Ash what you've done here today it could spark a war, and not the one you were rather inexpertly attempting to mastermind."

Lauren wrapped an arm around Bo and helped her to stand and limp with her. If anything Lauren was weaker than Bo, because Bo had just drained power from a whole room worth of people and a significant portion of that was Lauren's, but Lauren's determination allowed her to hold Bo up. Her leg still ached fiercely and her head was buzzing with fatigue but this was necessary. Lauren told herself she only had to be strong for a couple more minutes. After a glance at each other, Hale and Dyson leant into each other to achieve the same. It was definitely time to get out of here.

They followed along after Mia all the way out into the unreasonably bright sunshine. Elva and Jesse were waiting there, with nervous expressions. When they saw the state the others were in Jesse hurried over to help support Hale and Dyson. When Elva tried to take Bo off Lauren, she received a glare from Bo that made her back away. Bo didn't want to be near anyone but Lauren right now. She felt weak, barely able to speak or think, and rather like she was one big exposed nerve – everything hurt. The sunshine, the noise of people talking, even the air she breathed in was like knives stabbing into her. The only parts of her that didn't hurt were those touching Lauren's warmth. Lauren was like an oasis of calm and all Bo wanted to do was hug her and drift off to sleep, comfortably warm and numb and safe. She could feel Lauren's love surrounding her – no, not love. She tried rather weakly to deny that what she'd felt was love, but then gave up.

Lauren loved her. She'd known it for a while. And she loved Lauren – she knew that just as surely. What she didn't know was how much of the love they felt for each other was phantom, caused by stress and the shock of seeing each other after so many years, caused by memory and nostalgia, and all the extreme events they were going through. Love caused by extreme situations wouldn't last. And even if she loved Lauren, could she trust her? The doctor had already left once, and planned to leave again.

Was it better to stay with someone who loved you steadily and would never leave you, even if you perhaps didn't feel as strongly about them? Or risk it all for someone you loved more than anything but who could leave you for seventy years without even a goodbye?

Once again, Bo let herself ignore the bigger things. She just let herself enjoy the warmth of Lauren's body pressed against her side. Eventually, all these thoughts she kept denying and putting off would strike, but for now she just had to stay awake long enough to get out of here.

"Lauren, come on," Mia ignored Bo's glare and touched Lauren's arm. "We need to get back to my hotel here. I need you on my ground officially for when I start negotiating with the Ash, it gives me a much better chance of keeping you. I want to head back soon so we need to get this sorted as quickly as possible."

"Wait," Bo said, "I need to talk to her first." She managed to force herself upright, feeling dimly guilty for leaning on Lauren when the woman was so clearly injured and in pain. It was hard for her to think, harder for her to speak, but she knew she needed to.

Mia eyed her dispassionately. "Get in my limo, both of you. I'll wait out here," she said. "You have five minutes. Assuming Bo can stay conscious for even that long."

As soon as they were in there, Bo let herself fall against Lauren, holding the other woman as close to her as she could. "God, Lauren," she said against her. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

"It's not your fault," Lauren said. She was as exhausted as Bo, and close to weeping for no reason she could think of at all. "I meant that. It's not. You saved me. You always save all of us, Bo. I love you so much."

There was a fractured moment where they just stared at each other and Lauren wished she hadn't said it. "I, I didn't – I didn't mean it."

"Right," Bo gave an unpleasant laugh. The exhaustion and stress were taking their toll on her and she suddenly wanted to cry. "I know. You fall in love a lot."

There was a long pause. "Did you just call me a slut?" Lauren said, sounding mildly incredulous. She couldn't stop a small laugh escaping her. "I'm sorry, Bo, but that is so far from the truth -"

"Who was the girl?" Bo interrupted her. It was only one of many things she had to sort out. But she needed to know if Lauren had loved someone else. Lauren had said she didn't love Mali, or Mia. The only other possibility was the girl in the photo. She needed to know if Lauren had left her for someone else before she could decide where to go from here.

The loved each other. It should have been simple.

Nothing was ever as simple as she wanted it to be.

Lauren looked at her, feeling her way hesitantly, like someone in a maze. "What girl?"

"The one you met. After you left."

"Bo, I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kenzi," Bo rubbed at her eyes, not wanting to tell about how desperate she'd been to find Lauren after she left. Bo hated being vulnerable. She also didn't want to fight, but she wanted to know the truth. She had a million questions and she kept avoiding asking them. She kept making assumptions. She didn't want to do that anymore. "She was… well, it doesn't matter, but you were seen with this girl, not too far from here. About a year after you left. She had dark hair, and eyes, and you were at the airport -"

"Oh," Lauren smiled involuntarily, remembering her. "Callie. Her name's Callie. She was almost my sister-in-law."

"Nadia's sister?" Bo frowned. She hadn't thought the woman looked much like Nadia. "Someone else? Who were you almost married to?"

"No one," Lauren explained. "She was nearly married to my younger brother. He died three years before I entered service to the Ash. Whenever I see – um, whenever I saw her, it used to be like seeing him again. It was the same for her, I know. They were together nearly eight years, childhood sweethearts, before a drunk driver t-boned his Camry." Lauren said it so calmly, but Bo thought she could detect sadness there anyway. Sadness over something nearly eighty years ago – but then, sadness over some things never went away fully. Bo would still be sad over Kenzi when she was ten thousand years old.

"Oh," Bo said. She felt suddenly foolish and guilty, and tried to shift it off herself. "Of course, you wouldn't admit it if she was a girlfriend, would you?" God, she was just so tired. She could tell Lauren was too and wondered what they were doing in here, about to bicker about something pointless once again, when they should just be happy to be alive. But realising how much Lauren loved her – how much she loved Lauren – had thrown her. Right now she couldn't deal with it, deal with the thought that she loved someone and was marrying someone else. She wasn't even slightly able to choose, and she was so tired, and what if she was wrong?

Lauren stiffened and drew Mia's coat around her more closely. She even shifted away from Bo a bit, but not out of her embrace entirely, because there was such a thing as cutting off your nose to spite your face. She wanted to be close to Bo, even when they were fighting. She'd always wanted it. "Are you calling me a liar?"

"You lied about Mali."

"You're such a hypocrite," Lauren hissed, for once too tired and emotional to poker up and go icy. "You call me a liar, and you're the one lying to your soul-mate."

"I'm not lying to you about anything," Bo shot back.

There was a long, pregnant pause. "I was talking about Dyson," Lauren said softly. "Who you presumably haven't told about our night together." Her eyes shone with tears.

"You said it was a mistake."

"I don't know. I don't know what it was. All I know is that right here, right now, all I want is you. Bo. Do you think it was a mistake? I want you, but what do you want, Bo?"

Suddenly Mia was dragging open the door. "Time to go," she said. She seemed immovable, and her face was grim now. Bo wondered if she'd been listening, if she'd known exactly when to interrupt.

Even as she was being shoved out of the limo, Bo tried to reply. "I don't know," she said helplessly. Her brain seemed to have shut down totally. _I love you. Stay here. I won't marry him. _She wanted to say all of them, but she couldn't. Dyson hadn't done anything but love her. He'd certainly never left her. He'd never hurt her half as much as Lauren had. She'd _mourned_ Lauren, for Christ's sake. "Lauren. I'm sorry. I don't know."

The door of the limo slammed shut, but Bo thought she could still hear Lauren's voice, even though it was soft. It seemed to float out on the wind. "That's the problem with you, Bo. You never know."

As the limo roared away, Bo stumbled back to the others. A taxi had arrived for them while she was inside. The Dark Fae had all gone back into the compound, except for one guard who was doing his best to pretend he had nothing to do with the injured Fae on his doorstep. It was over.

X_X_X_X

That night Dyson reached for her, saying maybe she could help him heal, with a smile on his face. His tone suggested he'd forgiven her for earlier and was willing to prove it, and he healed quickly enough that he was fine again now. But, for the first time ever, Bo actually claimed she had a headache.

It felt like something from the 1940s. A wife telling her husband she's too tired or she has a headache, such a lame cliché. In this case Bo had a pretty good excuse, what with all the drama earlier. Despite that, it made her feel like a horrible person. But to sleep with him would be even worse, what with how she felt right now. She'd slept with him before when Lauren was in the back of her mind, but she'd never slept with him when Lauren was filling up her entire head, and right now she couldn't get Lauren out of her mind.

Dyson went to sleep angry. Bo never slept at all, she just stared at the wall. It was now exactly one week to the wedding.

* * *

**In case you can't tell, we're reaching crunch time. I think there will only be two or three more chapters.**


	15. Chapter 14

CHAPTER 14

_Bo was doing paperwork. Sometimes it seemed like her whole job was paperwork now. It seemed like the larger the firm got, the more her role was purely managerial. She kind of missed being the kickass leather-clad sword-wielding heroine, but what was she supposed to do? It was all too… too big, now. If she chose someone else to take over, chances were they'd run it in a way she didn't like. So Bo did paperwork. She made sure she took on at least two actual cases a month, though. It was important to keep her skills, and equally important to make sure she didn't go insane with boredom._

_Dyson was technically her employee now. So was Hale, albeit part-time. In fact, there were lots of employees, all around her, all the time. Once upon a time she'd known all their names. Then she'd started losing track, but Kenzi had still known all their names. Now Kenzi was gone she suspected no one knew all the names, and that she should hire a secretary purely to stand around and give her prompts whenever she had to talk to one of them. This thing had exploded so fast and it had all been fun, but now with Kenzi gone sometimes it just made her tired. At the end of a long day Kenzi used to come in with a bottle of spirits and force her to drink some. They'd just sit there, laughing and playing drinking games. Bo had barely noticed Kenzi aging – her blue eyes stayed the same, her aura stayed the same. She was still just Kenzi. And she acted the same, too, kicking Bo's ass at the drinking games and dropping her off at Dyson's tipsy. Dyson hadn't liked it but Bo had loved it: it made her feel young. Maybe it had made Kenzi feel young too, but then Bo suspected Kenzi had felt young to the very end._

_Bo's pen ran out as she was signing yet another form. She swore and pulled back the top drawer where she kept the pens. There seemed to be none there so she rummaged at the back of it. Then she felt a sharp pain in her hand and swore violently again, pulling out the sharp-edged thing which had attacked her._

_And drew in a breath._

_It was a cheap metal picture frame, dusty and a little warped. In it was a picture of Lauren._

_She was so young and beautiful in it that it took Bo's breath away. She looked uncomfortable – the doctor had always looked a little uncomfortable when someone took her picture. Bo thought it was from years of learning to be invisible under the Ash. Nevertheless, Lauren was trying to smile at the camera anyway. She was wearing her lab coat – how many fantasies had Bo had about that lab coat? Hundreds, surely – and her hair looked the same as always, in those perfect curls. The first time Bo had met her she'd thought privately that Lauren had to spend an hour doing her hair every morning. Later she'd seen Lauren during the sleepless period when she was trying to wake the first Ash – seen her sleep on the coach, watched her hair get messy – and when Lauren had woken, she'd simply finger-combed the mussed curls and they had turned perfect again. That was Lauren, beautiful without effort. Bo had watched countless women do their make-up like it was a complex surgery, but Lauren saved that kind of effort for actual complex surgeries. Bo had never known if Lauren had lacked ego before she became the Ash's slave, but if she had it had certainly disappeared through years of servitude to the arrogant Fae. No, Bo could never detect a hint of ego in Lauren, all she could ever see was quiet pride and respect for all others regardless of who they were. It was a heady combination. It was no wonder she'd fallen fast, so fast that it had scared her._

_Bo had never told her, but after she slept with Lauren for the first time, she dreamt that she'd drained her. That Lauren lay dead on the bed beside her. Waking up and seeing that Lauren was actually alive had made her think about the other Fae woman, the one forced to murder her own children, and she'd imagined herself in that position, the murderer of someone she loved. So she'd gotten up, hiding her fears about Lauren, to go get revenge for the Fae woman. And when she found out Lauren had lied, Bo's fears made her use that as a reason to hide. What Lauren had done was wrong – Bo would believe that to her dying day – but it had been a wrong done out of love, and she knew that excused it at least partially. She shouldn't have spent so long refusing to forgive Lauren._

_Sometimes Bo wondered if she'd hidden behind Nadia too. If maybe she'd been desperate to revive Nadia, not to free Lauren, but to have another reason not to get attached. She'd continued to have dreams of Lauren lying dead beside her and she was afraid that if she entered into a real relationship with Lauren then eventually the dream would become true. That repeated drainings would kill Lauren. But she'd still never been as jealous in her life as she was watching Lauren and Nadia happy together, and that persuaded her she couldn't lose Lauren._

_Only then there was Dyson again. And she remembered she'd loved him, and she hadn't realised that a large part of that love was because there was no risk of killing him. He was the first person she didn't have to use control with. Deep inside she believed that anyone else, she could kill, but Dyson she couldn't. So she'd run from the fear of killing Lauren straight into Dyson's arms._

_Only then Lauren had died anyway, and Bo had brought her back. And that made Bo realise that firstly, she could bring Lauren back, and secondly, that Lauren was going to die someday anyway and that if Lauren had to die she damn well wanted her to die in Bo's arms. The idea of Lauren dying the way she had in that lab – alone, believing Bo loved Dyson more than her – broke Bo's heart into a thousand pieces. And the only thing that could fix it was spending the rest of her life with Lauren._

_Except Lauren, of course, had vanished. There were many possibilities now – she could have been the skeleton found in England more than forty years before, she could be in a nursing home being visited by great-grandchildren, she could be in a hospital on ventilators somewhere. Out there, there could be Lauren, more than a hundred years old, thinking about Bo at this exact moment. It was most likely Lauren was dead, but Bo chose to believe she wasn't. That Lauren was right now telling some wide-eyed great-grand-daughter amazing stories about the days when her job was to save the lives of monsters and fairies._

_Perspective is a wonderful thing, but the worst thing about it is that it requires distance. Bo could see all the ways she'd screwed up, and all the ways Lauren had screwed up. She could see their little mistakes and jealousies with clear eyes now. If she could go back, if she could do it all again, if she could have Lauren's heart and soul and the opportunity to keep them then Bo would do it right this time, she was sure of that._

_But then, that was arrogant, wasn't it? To assume it would be easy if she had a second chance. People always said that. But the truth was, when they did get a second chance, normally they threw it away and screwed it up in the exact way they had the first time. Like cheating husbands who swore they would be faithful if given just one more chance, but somehow couldn't help themselves from cheating again. Hadn't someone once said that madness was doing the same thing multiple times and expecting different results? Bo had been too afraid, too selfish, and too immature to make things work with Lauren the first time. She'd hurt Lauren time and time again. And Lauren had been too passive, too distant, and even too dishonest to make things work with Bo. She'd lied to Bo about things, omitted things – like Nadia, and her slavery, and her orders. If Bo could go back, she wasn't sure she could fix that, fix the ways in which they'd messed things up. But she wished she could have. All it would take was them just talking to each other – without Bo making it too emotional and petty, and without Lauren lying or freezing her out. If they'd just done that – just talked, instead of Bo hiding behind nasty jabs and other partners, and Lauren hiding behind a cool façade of lies and omissions – she thought they could have worked it out. Ended up together, been happy together. Loved each other._

_Of course, Lauren would have gotten old anyway, died anyway. Bo would probably still be sitting here, alone. But she would more than sixty years of memory to keep her going, instead of a gaping wound in her soul that had yet to heal… perhaps when you didn't age, when time had no effect on your body, it had no effect on your heart either. Perhaps for Fae, feelings never truly faded, broken hearts never truly healed. Certainly she'd seen enough Fae clinging to the people they'd loved decades or even centuries ago, such as the deer Lachlan had shot, the man she loved, and even Ciara with her feelings for Dyson. Even Trick, who was still madly in love with Bo's grandmother, despite her death thousands of years before. Perhaps that would be Bo, too – perhaps she could never love as strongly again, not even with Dyson…_

_Understanding where you went wrong is amazing. But when there is no way to make it right, all it is is agonising._

"_Are you okay, boss?" Elva, who was the most senior after Bo, Hale and Dyson, broke into Bo's thoughts._

"_Uh? Yes, yes I'm fine," Bo said, blinking and tearing her gaze away from Lauren's smiling face._

"_Only you've been staring at the photo of that blonde girl for nearly an hour now."_

"_Right," Bo felt herself flush. She had to resist the urge to say something sharp to the girl – Elva hadn't done anything wrong._

"_Tell me if it's none of my business, but who is she?" Elva schooled her expression to appear merely inquisitive. In fact, she'd found the photo one day nearly seven years before, and had gone with it to Kenzi (the person least likely to condemn pure nosiness), who had explained a few things, then advised her to leave it there and never mention it again._

"_Someone amazing."_

"_I don't think I've ever seen her before. Would I like her?"_

"_Her name's Lauren," Bo said. "And you would have loved her. It was impossible not to."_

_X_X_X_X_

_Three nights later Dyson proposed. He didn't place the ring in a cake or a wine glass, and it wasn't private and secluded. Instead, he organised a surprise party for Bo's birthday. Everyone they knew was there, even Trick, which should have clued Bo in since she knew he was happily settled in Hawaii. At midnight everyone went out onto the balcony and watched fireworks which were Dyson's present to Bo – only instead of reading 'happy birthday', the finale fireworks read 'marry me'. Dyson dropped to one knee as everyone held their breath and watched._

_Bo thought it was typical of Dyson to do it in front of everyone, as if there was no possibility she'd say no. Typical to couch his question as a command as well – not 'will you marry me?' but just 'marry me'. But she knew she was nit-picking, the way she always seemed to with him these days. It was like everything he did annoyed her. With Kenzi, she'd found each frustrating thing half-amusing, with Lauren, she'd found each little habit adorable if occasionally mystifying, but with Dyson she just found them annoying. Surely it shouldn't be that way, if you loved someone. Surely you shouldn't hope every night that they'd work a little later so you could have more time to yourself. Surely you shouldn't imagine taking holidays without them just so you could get to dance wildly and flirt with strangers. Surely you shouldn't feel claustrophobic and trapped and cornered by them._

_But then, she'd never been in a relationship, really, let alone one this long. Probably everyone got tired. And he'd put up with her for more than sixty years – her moods, her tantrums, her heartache for Lauren, the immense amount of time she spent working, the immense amount of time she had spent with Kenzi when she should have been with him. He put up with being her subordinate at work, put up with her occasionally draining other people for chi during jobs, put up with her feud with the Ash and her feud with the Morrigan and all the trouble she caused him. And they were in front of everyone they knew, and he was a proud person, and it would crush him if she said no._

_So she said yes and kissed him in a dramatically drawn out way and everyone cheered. The world was full of explosions of light and colour, and it was her birthday, and she was engaged, and she should have been on top of the world._

_But perhaps that kind of happiness only existed in stories._

It was the day before Bo's wedding and she was hiding in her office. It was strange, since she should have been enjoying the moment. Trying on her dress for the fifteenth time – except she'd have to try it on at least ten times today for it to be the fifteenth time, since she'd only worn it during fittings. The lady making it had jokingly ordered her not to wear it outside those times, hinting that no bride had-to-be ever obeyed her, since they all wanted to try their dresses on again and again. But Bo hadn't wanted to.

It would probably be different if she had a bridesmaid and they could try on their dresses together and squeal and giggle, but since Kenzi's death she wasn't really fond of anyone. Well, except Hale and Trick, and they were both already in the bridal party, as best man and grandfather-of-the-bride (since father-of-the-bride was unknown). She supposed there was Elva, but they weren't even one-tenth as close as she and Kenzi had been. They were only really work-friends, and the fact that Bo was the boss always kept a certain amount of distance between her and her employees.

Maybe the fact that they apparently saw her as some kind of Gandhi also had an effect. Though that was news she still didn't want to deal with.

What with one thing and another she'd barely seen Hale, Dyson and Trick. She was avoiding all of them, trying to think. It wasn't easy, at least with Trick and Dyson. Dyson seemed to want to constantly be in her presence. Trick still had something he wanted to tell her, but whenever she allowed him a couple of minutes to talk all he did was ramble on about old mistakes, and old regrets, and whether he'd made a mistake a long time ago. She suspected he was talking about Aoife again, wishing she was there to be mother-of-the-bride, and that was a conversation Bo wasn't emotionally equipped to deal with right now on top of everything else. Hale at least was not seeking her out, but she knew he'd been to see Lauren several times, and she could tell he was suspicious about why she hadn't chosen to go. He didn't understand how hard it would be to say goodbye again. And she didn't dare say anything else.

Part of her thought that if she didn't visit, Lauren might leave – making the decision for Bo, and at the same time proving her right in her belief that Lauren wouldn't stay even for her. Another part of her fiercely wanted Lauren to come looking for her. Dyson would fight for her, anyone would fight for her, and she just wanted Lauren to prove that she would too. Instead of just being so quiet and accepting and okay with everything, all the time. Bo knew she was often guilty of believing Lauren's emotions weren't as strong simply because Lauren handled her emotions like an adult, unlike the rest of them – she didn't make scenes, or yell, or give Bo ultimatums (well, hardly ever). But that's what she wanted – Lauren to come here and force her to choose, and make it clear that there was no choice.

"What are you doing here?" Elva walked into the room. "I thought I was supposed to be in charge for at least another two months."

"Two weeks," Bo corrected her. "The honeymoon's only for a two weeks." Her stomach lurched at the thought. She still hadn't… connected…. with Dyson since Lauren's kidnapping. He was suspicious and hurt, she knew, but she just couldn't face it right now. She'd never actively avoided sex before.

"Uh, Dyson told me it was two months at least," Elva frowned, then said, "Shit. That was probably supposed to be a surprise. I'm _so sorry_."

"What? He extended our honeymoon without even telling me?"

"He said you needed a break from the stress, boss," Elva gave a cynical laugh. "Three guesses what he meant by that."

"And what did he mean by that?" Bo allowed her voice to go hard, indicating that she wasn't impressed with Elva's judgments.

Elva looked nervous, realising she'd crossed a line. "Uh. Sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'll go." She started to leave.

"Don't," Bo said. Suddenly she didn't want to be alone. "I'm the one who's sorry, I was being unfair. I'm always telling you guys to treat me as an equal then when you do I snap at you. I was just surprised, that's all. You can say whatever you want."

"Really? And not get fired?"

"So long as you don't start calling me a whore or something. This is me being a good boss, not me giving you free reign to insult me."

Elva didn't laugh or even smile. She looked, if anything, even more nervous. "Then can I ask you something?"

"Shoot."

"Why are you marrying Dyson?" There was a long silence as Bo stared at Elva. The fire Fae, gathering her courage, went on, "Only I remember that time I caught you with that photo of Lauren. It wasn't the first time I'd seen it. I actually found it while I was getting paperwork seven years before and mentioned it to Kenzi. She said it was a picture of the love of your life." Bo still didn't say anything. "That's why I got so nosey, when I saw you looking at it. I wanted to know what you'd say…"

"Why do you care who I marry?" Bo said abruptly.

"I actually look up to you a lot. You're like my hero. I don't want to see you get hurt," Elva said simply. "You taught us that humans are equal. Watching you with Lauren, seeing how you treat her, seeing the way you feel about her… it's inspiring."

"You can care about someone, love them even, and not be meant to be with them," Bo said quietly.

"And you think you're meant to be with Dyson?" Elva struggled not to sound dismissive. She liked Dyson, she did. She just didn't think he and Bo were meant to be together. It was like they were too different – or maybe like they were too similar. Perhaps the truth was they were different and similar in the wrong way to make something between them really work. They were similar in their pride, their possessiveness, their automatic leadership, and their passion, but all that meant was that they both fought about their beliefs, tried to take the lead from each other, and focused on instinct and emotion over logic. They were different in their core beliefs, their experiences, and their treatment of others, and all that meant was that they had things to fight about – generally basing the fights on their emotions rather than sense. All in all it didn't add up to a relationship, but an argument – which of late hadn't even been a passionate argument as much as it had been bitchy bickering. Bo needed someone who could take a step back, be the logical one, the cool head. Dyson was not that person, and Elva suspected that the only reason their relationship had initially worked was lust, which seemed to have largely been extinguished over time. "You waited more than sixty years to marry him, don't you think that means something?"

"That's a normal amount of time for a Fae couple to wait!"

"But it's not a normal amount of time for someone as impulsive as you to wait," Elva pointed out. "If you'd really wanted to marry him you would have been in a chapel decades ago."

Bo hesitated. She'd wondered once if Dyson had waited to propose until after Kenzi's death, because he was worried Kenzi would advise Bo not to commit. Or because he thought that after Kenzi was gone Dyson would be the most important person in her life, so she'd have no choice but to say yes. But she had to trust that he was nobler than that. "I care about him. I do."

"As much as you care about Lauren?"

"Admit it, this is about politics, isn't it?" Bo said harshly, suddenly understanding. "If Bo the figurehead marries a Fae, and worse, an aligned Fae, she's no longer a pure Jesus-type leader. It's like a betrayal of what I stand for, it's exactly what the elders would like me to do. On the other hand, if Bo the figurehead frees and marries a human, though – well, that's Mary the whore all over again."

Elva blinked. "I'm actually kind of surprised by how well you know the bible."

"Don't be, I'm sure I'm getting it all wrong," Bo said, deciding not to explain about her religious adopted parents. She returned to her criticism, "You just want me to support this crazy cult that you all made me leader of without my permission."

"A cause," Elva said hotly, "Not a cult. And this isn't about that. This is about you. I've been here for decades, you know, Bo. I'm not stupid, and I see a lot. And I'm hundreds of years old. You're like a child to me. The things I've seen and done… you think I can't tell when someone's in love? I saw your expression when you looked at that photo. Fae marriage isn't easily broken. Divorce takes thousands of years. Are you willing to wait thousands of years for Lauren?" Elva waited, but Bo didn't respond. "Did you know that she's headed back to Africa tomorrow? My sources in the Light Fae compound tell me that the Argan has arranged some trade advantages in return for total ownership of her."

"_What?_" Bo couldn't stop her emotionless façade from slipping.

"You should at least talk to her before she goes," Elva said quietly. She sighed, looking worn out. "I'm sorry. I know I've crossed the line a lot here. It's not my place to say any of this. I just don't understand why you haven't even been to see her. You sit here, hiding away from most women's dream wedding and dream man, and you act like that's normal and fine."

Bo stood up. She could feel the stiffness in her body, the anger she was containing. "You don't know anything," she said in a low voice. "You wanna talk about love? They say it's nothing without trust. Lauren ran off without a word, did you know that? Not a single fucking word. She could have called, written, come back. But instead she just left me. I told her I loved her and she just… left. And she says it was to protect me, but that doesn't explain it all. She didn't even say goodbye. So, yes, I love her. But I can't trust her. I could never trust her not to leave again."

Bo marched out the door, but she couldn't avoid hearing Elva's last words. "Who's better, Bo? Someone you can trust but don't love, or someone you love but don't trust? Trust can be built, but love can't. Love's not something you can manufacture. Believe me."

After Bo was gone, Elva sat down. She took several deep breaths. Then she took several more. Eventually she found a paper bag and breathed into it until the shaking stopped. She'd never been so wilfully interfering in her life, and it was terrifying. Especially since it had been with a Fae who, although younger than her, was world-famous, feared, and even worshipped by some.

Then, because she was a sensible Fae, she used company resources to print off two hundred copies of her resume on the assumption she probably didn't have a job anymore. And given how rude and meddling she'd been, she accepted that that probably served her right.

X_X_X_X

Bo found herself at Mia and Lauren's hotel. It wasn't a conscious decision. She just drove, and somehow she ended up there. The Bo of the last fifty years would probably have gone via reception but right now she felt more like the Bo of seventy years ago – the wild, free rule-breaker. So instead she simply climbed over a wall. The word was the Argan had hired the whole hotel – typical Fae arrogance – so she didn't have to worry about disturbing anyone else. In fact, she could see Lauren through one of the windows. She was beautiful as ever, though a little pale, and leaning on a walking stick – Bo assumed it was an aftereffect of how much she'd drained while in her other mode mixed with the pain of the bone marrow extraction. The other guys had been sore and trembling for days after as well even without the painful test.

Even though she could see Lauren, it still took Bo some time to work her way through the extensive gardens and shrubbery to get there, though, so by the time she made it to the room Mia was there.

What she didn't expect was to walk in on a conversation between Mia and Lauren that was undoubtedly meant to be private.

"I would have officially transferred ownership to her if it had worked out. I meant that when I said it, I really did," Mia was saying quietly. "I'm sorry, Lauren."

So far neither of them had spotted her. Not wanting to interrupt, Bo pushed herself against the wall so she wouldn't be seen. She decided she'd wait until Mia was gone.

"You're not even slightly sorry, Mia," Lauren said crisply, and with a lot less respect than she'd treated any of her past owners.

Mia laughed. "True. I would have hated to lose you. You're the most talented doctor I've ever seen. But you know, I think I was rooting for you. A bit. Though maybe only so I could comfort the wolf in his grief… that would have been delicious. Maybe we should form a break-up team – go around the world breaking up couples so you get the girl and I get the guy. It would be so much fun. And when they're particularly attractive, we could all get together and -"

"Mia," Lauren let out a choked laugh. "Stop it."

"See? I got a laugh out of you," Mia sounded smug. "I told you, you'll forget this silly girl soon. Besides, for a succubus she's not even that attractive. Oh, don't give me that look. I'm not jealous. Well, not much." Mia paused. "If you want to stay, I can probably spare a couple more days."

"No, I want to go," Lauren said. "I need to go home. The village needs me, and the whole region needs you, and there's no reason to stay here at all. I'll say my goodbyes tonight."

"Even to her?"

"No," Lauren looked away. "I think Bo and I have said everything we need to say."

Bo felt herself burn with anger and heartbreak. She wanted to go in and yell at Lauren. Why did the other woman always find it so easy to leave with barely even a word? This was exactly what she'd been talking about. Lauren was doing it again – the great disappearing doctor act. If she really wanted Bo, she'd fight for her. But instead she just left. It brought up all Bo's insecurities. She remembered Lauren disappearing as soon as she found out that Bo loved her – as if it was so horrifying to be loved by Bo. And here she was, not even willing to come and see Bo one last time. She hadn't wanted to come back with Bo, either, Bo bitterly remembered. And all those hours driving, Lauren had avoided saying anything. She'd even leapt at the opportunity to have a different room when they'd stayed at Griff's. It was like all Lauren wanted to do was avoid her and leave her. Whereas Dyson at least wanted to be with her, he said so all the time.

Bo turned around and left.

Unaware that she'd ever been there, Lauren and Mia continued their conversation.

"Do you think this means you'll finally get over her? That you'll be able to move on now that she's getting married?" Mia said softly.

"God, I hope so," Lauren said with uncharacteristic fervour. She started in surprise as Mia reached forward and took her hand, interlacing their fingers a little clumsily. Mia had embraced her many, many times before in an attempt to seduce her, but she had never made a gesture so full of feeling.

"Move on with me, even?" For once, Mia didn't send her power into Lauren as they touched.

Lauren stared at her open-mouthed. Then she shook herself. "Mia, be serious. You don't want a relationship, and I don't do one-night stands -"

"For you I'd make an exception."

Lauren was shocked. Mia looked absolutely serious, her eyes grave. Her constant smile was missing from her lips. "Mia -"

"Just listen to me," Mia squeezed her hand. "I have been alive a very long time. I've had millions of people desire me, crave me, adore me. But I've never had anyone love me, the way you've loved Bo. You were faithful to her for seventy years – and it wasn't even really faithfulness, since she was with someone else, and it wouldn't have been cheating. When I met you, I thought that was pathetic. But then… I started thinking about it. About how amazing it would be to be the kind of person who could inspire that sort of love in someone like you. I thought about how it would feel to know that you were waking up every day with me as the first thing you thought of. How it would feel to be so amazing that even seventy years and choosing someone else and being a bitch wouldn't make you want anyone else. How it would feel to be the memory so powerful that nothing could outweigh it."

"Mia, I can't," Lauren began helplessly.

Mia continued anyway, speaking over her. "I'm hundreds of years old, Lauren, and I'm a succubus. I've never even kissed someone without using my power on them. And I never thought about it. Until I met you. Now I wonder, would anyone kiss me if I wasn't a succubus? Would anyone want me if I wasn't a succubus? Beyond sex, beyond the physical, could anyone love me? Over the years you've become immune to succubus powers. And you love Bo with this, this sureness, this purity, and I see your aura when you think about her and it looks like nothing in this world. It looks like it would be better than sex – and from a succubus, that's a pretty big thing to say. So I've held this in for years, Lauren, but here it is: could someone like you love me?"

Lauren could barely bring herself to meet Mia's eyes, but she forced herself to anyway. "Mia. Anyone would be lucky to love someone like you. But I already love someone. Love isn't a, a piece of jewellery. I can't take it off Bo and give it to you. And it sounds to me like what you want isn't to love me, or to have me love you. What you want is to be someone worthy of love. And you are. So you'll find someone, someone right for you. But it will take time. And I'm sorry, but it won't be me."

There was a very long pause, then Mia gave a shaky laugh. "You love her so much. I don't understand you, Lauren. Why don't you just go get her then? Because I can read auras and let me tell you, if you fought for her, you'd win."

"Because why should I have to fight for her?" Lauren said. "I've told her how I feel. Why can't she just act on it? It shouldn't be some kind of tug-of-war between me and Dyson. This isn't to the victor, the spoils. If she wants me – well, I've told her how I feel, maybe it's time for her to fight for me."

"Maybe she's afraid."

"Then I guess we have that in common." Lauren looked away, signalling a change of subject. She didn't want to talk about Bo. "I'm sorry about everything, Mia. If I led you on -"

Mia laughed. "You didn't. Much to my disappointment. If anything I've been the one sexually harassing you for years, dear. I just hoped that you were covering up some kind of feelings for me – you're so good at that, even with my powers I sometimes can't quite tell how you feel." She paused for a second. "Maybe Bo can't either," she said tentatively.

"Leave it alone, Mia," Lauren said sharply. She'd told Bo how she felt years before, and she'd told her now. And she never got anything in return. So she didn't fight and roar and compete for Bo like Dyson – so she wasn't an emotional five-year-old. Bo had to know that Dyson yelling about his feelings didn't make them any more real than Lauren's, just because Lauren was quieter. She could understand Bo being a little hesitant – after all, Lauren had stabbed her with a needle, and lied about Mali – but Bo had a lot to answer for too. Lauren was sick of being the one chasing.

"You're right, you know. I don't think it's about you," Mia said, returning to the previous topic. It seemed safer. "I think I just wanted to see what it was like, without powers and games and lust."

"You don't need your powers," Lauren said. "You're beautiful."

"Yes?" Mia smiled, starting to return to her old self. She still looked shaky though. "Then can you do me a favour? Can you give me my first real kiss? The first kiss I get because I'm Mia, not because I'm a succubus. No strings, I promise."

Lauren hesitated. But she'd just hurt Mia's pride, and maybe even her heart a little. And it had been six days, and Bo hadn't come to see her, hadn't said a word. The others had visited and said she was busy with preparations for the wedding – the wedding Lauren would not go to. The wedding that signalled the end of it all. What harm could one kiss do?

She leaned in and touched her lips gently to Mia's. It was one of the more sexless kisses she'd ever delivered, as platonic and sweet and full of discovery as a young girl's first kiss. Neither of them noticed Bo pausing as she climbed the fence, staring through the window at them.

It lasted only a couple of seconds and then Lauren pulled away. Mia raised her hand to her mouth and smiled. Amazement was in her eyes. "Wow," she said. "I could feel it. I could feel how much you love her. I never felt it before, when I tried to kiss you. You were always holding it back. So that's what it will taste like, when someone loves me and I kiss them?"

"Yes," Lauren said.

"Then I'll look forward to that," Mia said with a cheeky smile. "And in the meantime, I'm going to go bang the poolboy."

**Okay, a lot of people are telling me the ending feels rushed (despite the fact they, you know, haven't read it yet). Guys, this was never going to be loads of chapters long! I said at the start that it was going to be around 50,000 words, and I'm already over that! I'm moving house right now and starting a job and I don't really have time to change this to a longer story. Maybe someday when I have the time there'll be a sequel, exploring everything more thoroughly, but that's a hope, not a promise. I just hope you guys like it anyway, even if it isn't quite the pacing you wanted. Anyway. Fingers crossed.**

**This chapter probably seems kind of dull. It was sort of a reflection chapter, and probably concentrated too much on the OCs. I promise in the next chapter there will be a LOT of Bo/Lauren – actually, the chapter is pretty much entirely Bo/Lauren. I'm not sure anyone else even gets a line. It's time for them to finally have the honest, complete talk they should have like ten chapters ago. (But then where would be the story?)**

**Also, interesting thing: when I was rechecking the spelling in this chapter, I realised I'd misspelled one sentence as "the drawer where Bo kept the penis". I cracked up and considered leaving it in just for the hell of it. (Okay, I'm weird. I accept that.)**

**God, I'm so tired. I really need to go sleep for about fourteen hours right now, but sadly my wake-up call is in about six. Goodnight.**


	16. Chapter 15

CHAPTER 15

"_Doves," Trick suggested hopefully. "They'll be beautiful. White doves -"_

"_Shitting all over everything? No," Bo was firm. "I'm already uncertain about having this thing in the forest. I like cities. Forests are full of bugs, animal crap, poison ivy, and mud. What's wrong with a church? Or even a registrar's office?"_

"_Dyson's a wolf, they always get married in the forest," Trick said. "It's traditional. I thought you always wanted a big wedding, anyway. You can't really have a big traditional wedding in a registrar's office."_

"_That was what I wanted _years _ago," Bo said uncomfortably, beginning to sweat. She could feel a headache starting. This had all become so big. "I'm not sure I want a big wedding anymore. What with all the employees, clients and important dignitaries who are invited, we have a significant chunk of Dark Fae, Light Fae, and human attendees. I can't imagine having them all in the same area is going to go well. Maybe we should have had just a small one. You know, a beautiful dress, you and Hale there as witnesses, maybe a couple of the employees who I like the most there too. No elders, no Morrigan, no Ash, no former clients who I can barely remember… Oh God…"_

"_Relax," Trick attempted to mollify her. "Everyone worries before their wedding. I was petrified before mine. All you have to do is remind yourself that you love Dyson, and you want to be with him forever, and the panic will subside."_

_If anything, Bo looked more panicked. "Forever?" she said weakly. "I think I need a drink. A strong one."_

"_Is this about children?" Trick said unexpectedly, searching for something to explain Bo's expression and jumping on the wrong possibility. "I know you and Dyson are planning to begin a family soon, but if it's worrying you so much, maybe you should put it off. You have a lot of time, remember."_

"_Children?" The colour left Bo's face. "We're not planning to have children soon! Children, children throw up, and cry, and I don't know how to be a mother yet. I can't do this. Dyson wants children _soon_?"_

"_Oops," Trick, in atonement, poured her a large drink. The bar was closed right now and Hale was helping out at the office, so they had the place to themselves. "Sorry. From the way he talked about it, I thought it was something you'd discussed. After all, wolves have very strong family ties. Children are very important to them."_

"_They're important to me as well! Important enough that I don't want to have them until I'm sure I'm ready!" She downed the entire drink, pale and sweating._

_Trick refilled her drink without comment. After a minute's thought, he spoke again. He sounded very serious and a little worried. "Bo, you're happy about this, aren't you? This is what you want?"_

"_Why are you asking me that?"_

"_Because the whole time I've been here, since Dyson proposed, I don't think I've seen you smile," Trick said simply. "Not really."_

"_I love Dyson," Bo said, aware that that wasn't really an answer._

_Trick took it as one anyway and relaxed a little. He still looked uneasy, though. "Bo," he said finally, "At a time like this, a man considers whether… he's done the right things. Whether he's done right by the people he cares about, or whether selfishness prompted him to do some things that he might have persuaded himself were the right thing to do at the time. I always wanted you to end up with Dyson, and I think you know that."_

"_He's your friend," Bo said. "It's alright. I know you want me to be happy."_

"_It's just…" Trick studied the bottle he was holding as if it held the answers. "A few years back, Kenzi said something to me that made me think you perhaps weren't as happy as I thought you were. That you might still be holding onto things from the past." He remembered Kenzi, a little drunk, telling him Bo had never quite moved on from Lauren. They'd been reminiscing about the fight with the Garuda and he'd mentioned that the doctor had been spectacular that day - and then Kenzi's face had darkened and she'd said some quite rude things about what Lauren had done to Bo. It had made Trick uncomfortable to be there and not speak up. But since Kenzi had been drinking, it had been easy to dismiss at the time. Seeing her face now, he wondered if Kenzi had a point. But then, he was probably refining too much upon it – after all, Bo had seemed fine after Lauren left. Unusually focused, certainly, but still fine. Probably this was just wedding nerves. The only reason he'd thought of it now was because she'd been complaining about the replacement doctor five minutes before – calling him the _replacement_ doctor, even though he'd been the doctor more than sixty years. It made him wonder if he should just confess everything – after all, maybe it would help Bo to know that Lauren hadn't left her, that the doctor had had a reason to run, and that it had never been a rejection because she'd never known there was something to reject. But then again, what if it did damage? It was impossible to know. According to Dyson the doctor's body had been found years ago, so maybe it would just bring up old issues with no way to resolve them. "And if, by omitting to tell someone something important a long time ago, I might have somehow prevented you from getting a chance at closure – if I made a mistake -" he went ahead anyway._

"_Trick, whoa," Bo held up a hand, stopping his rambling sentence. "Just tell me one thing. This mistake. Is it something that can be fixed now?"_

_Trick suddenly looked old and sad. "No," he said slowly, "I suppose it's not. I suppose it would just open old wounds."_

"_Then now's not the time for it," Bo said firmly. "I know whatever you did, whatever mistakes you think you made, you were just trying to do what's right. And we're all here and alive and happy -" her mind immediately went to Kenzi, made the jump to Lauren, and touched lightly upon those, like Ciara, who she rarely thought of anymore but still missed, and she swallowed hard, "- so it can't have been that big a mistake, all right?"_

"_I just want to tell you so I can ask your forgiveness," Trick said. Really, he knew he just wanted to hear he'd done the right thing. it had seemed right at the time, but that was when he'd believed Dyson and Bo were supposed to be together. Now, after years of their spats, after seeing Bo's lacklustre expression when he proposed, after seeing her lack of enthusiasm for the wedding now - he was less sure. And if Dyson and Bo had not been meant to be together, that meant anything he'd done in support of them being together was questionable._

"_You have it. You're my grandfather. As long as you do your best, look out for me, love me, and never spend my kid's college funds on poker machines, then you get my forgiveness. That's what my granny did, with the poker machines," she added by way of explanation for the last requirement. "It's a good thing I was too busy fleeing the law to go to college, really, or otherwise I would have been extremely pissed off at her."_

_Trick smiled. She was glad to see him look less miserable._

"_Anyway," Bo said, determined to bring the conversation back to lighter areas, "No doves. I will not have my head crapped on at my own wedding. And also, before you even think of suggesting it, no traditional Irish dancing. Ever. Understand?"_

_X_X_X_X_

_About a month before the wedding, Bo went to bed and dreamed of Lauren. It was the first time in a long time she'd dreamt of her so vividly. She expected it to be like the other ones – her draining Lauren to death. Lauren's corpse in the lab. Lauren running away and Bo being unable to catch up with her. Lauren's skeleton on the table at a fancy dinner, and no one else seeming to notice it. All had been part of the rotation of Lauren nightmares she'd had over the years._

_Instead, it was nothing like that. It was warm and happy. She was sitting next to Lauren on the couch at the old place she'd shared with Kenzi. Lauren was telling her all about her day at the lab, all the difficult patients and the Ash's crankiness. How it had been a terrible day. She was wearing one of her button-up shirts that Bo always wanted to tear open, but this one was already partially unbuttoned, showing a low-cut tank top. She looked happy, irresistibly so, and Bo felt dizzy with wanting her. There was a necklace around her neck, the exact same chain she'd always worn the Ash's pendant on, but now there was a heart-shaped locket on it instead of the Ash's sign. As she talked, Lauren played with it idly, catching the light with it._

"_It can't have been that bad a day," Dream-Bo said, touching Lauren's face. It felt like it burned her a little and she pulled away, startled, but then brought her hand back because it felt impossible not to touch Lauren. It was like gravity pulling her towards Lauren, like Lauren was the sun - and in fact, she was even glowing, a little. No wonder it felt like her skin burned Bo. "You're smiling."_

"_How could anyone be sad around you?" Lauren replied. She pulled away one of Bo's hands and kissed the palm lightly. To Bo's surprise, the spot she kissed glowed like a star. "You're amazing Bo, and you're all mine. You make the hardest days seem easy." It was very corny, something Lauren would probably never really say, but in the dream it felt normal._

_There was a sound from the corner and Bo whipped around, expecting trouble. But it was only Kenzi, looking very hungover, and miming throwing up. "You two are disgusting," she groused. "If you keep up the sickeningly-sweethearts thing you've got going on I'm withdrawing my support. I'll be back on the 'bestiality's best' train, you hear me?" Kenzi didn't glow in the dream like Lauren did. Instead, she threw off sparks, like a sparkler. In the dream, Bo found that she didn't question this, any more than she'd questioned Lauren's glow. It felt natural that they should be like that - after all, anyone who knew them for any length of time felt like Lauren glowed and Kenzi was sparky. It felt like a visual representation of their personalities - more than their auras. Bo didn't know what sense she used to "see" auras, and that could only show her lust or sometimes love. This felt like more, and she was very definitely seeing it with her eyes._

_It was beautiful._

"_I have no idea why you live with someone so immature," Lauren said to Bo, though she was still smiling._

"_You love me really," Kenzi said, blowing a raspberry at Lauren. "I bring fun into your life. Adventure."_

"_Being woken at four by you coming home, having to clean your vomit off the bathroom floor, listening to you murder songs in the shower, washing up the dishes that you treat as one use only…" Lauren listed, rolling her eyes. She moved to go stand next to Kenzi, raising one hand idly. Kenzi raised one as well until they were holding hands. The spot where they touched glowed so fiercely and threw off such bright sparks Bo couldn't stand to look at it._

"Bo _loves me really," Kenzi corrected herself. "And you love Bo. And that's why you love Dyson, too, even though he's a moron."_

_It seemed like they were ignoring Bo now. Bo found she couldn't speak anymore. She was literally unable to, reduced to being an observer in her own dream. The light was beginning to spread, turning the area around them blinding._

"_As long as he makes her happy," Lauren said, still to Kenzi. "As long as Bo loves him. That's all I want, Bo to be happy, without me getting in the way."_

"_That's all I want too," Kenzi agreed. "It's the only reason why you get my support, Doctor Dishy. Well, that and your hotpants, of course. And possibly your cooking ability." Kenzi suddenly and disconcertingly turned to look straight at Bo, involving her again. "Do you hear us, Bo? That's all we want. You to be happy."_

_Bo tried to say that she was happy, but she still couldn't speak._

"_So why aren't you, Bo? Why aren't you happy?" Lauren said, staring at Bo as well. "You sit and you think about the past and you miss me and you miss Kenzi. You're a fool, Bo. You got what you wanted, didn't you? You got Dyson. You got friends and coworkers and respect and understanding and family and freedom. Why aren't you happy?"_

"_Be happy, Bo," Kenzi said. Suddenly they were both closing in on her, without appearing to move. "Be happy. Please. Be happy."_

"_Be happy," Lauren joined in. The glow spread until she couldn't see either of them. Sparks were everywhere, fiercely bright and colourful. One nearly hit Bo and she flinched._

_Bo woke up with the noise and brightness in her head, gasping. It was only three in the morning, but she knew she couldn't fall back asleep. Eventually she headed into work, but she was tired all day._

_Around midday she drifted off at her desk, quietly and inconspicuously. Lauren and Kenzi were still on her mind. The past was still on her mind. She couldn't have explained why it had felt like a nightmare, since it wasn't really one, but it did. Especially since it had started out happy. She dozed at her desk, eyes sore and sleepy, half in and half out of consciousness._

_After a while a bright, cheerful voice jolted her out of it._

"_Happy anniversary, boss. Can you believe it's been going so long?"_

_And she honestly couldn't._

* * *

Bo stared in the mirror. She was in the little dressing room they'd set up close to the clearing. It seemed to be made out of still-growing trees, though someone had at least draped cloth around them in an attempt to make it room-like. There was the mirror there as well, firstly so the fairy they'd employed could do her make-up and hair, but now so she could see herself before she went out there.

The ceremony was in five minutes and she'd asked to spend them alone. The make-up artist had looked concerned – Bo imagined she thought she was dealing with a runaway bride situation – but Bo had used her powers to calm the woman, even though it had made getting rid of her even harder. She needed a moment to herself before she went out there and belonged to everyone else. And then, once the ceremony was done, belonged to Dyson. For the rest of her life. Or at least a couple of thousand years. Fae took marriage seriously, you couldn't even ask for divorce for the first thousand, and even after that it was difficult to obtain.

Bo made a beautiful bride. Her dark hair and eyes contrasted perfectly with the white of the dress. She looked like a snow princess. Normally she was worthy of lust, but right at this moment, she looked worthy of adoration. Homage. Her skin was nearly the colour of the dress, too – even the efforts of the make-up artist hadn't been able to bring life to her waxen cheeks, so she had eventually just left her pale and perfect as was clearly meant to be.

What Bo couldn't figure out was why she wasn't smiling. Or crying. Or _something_, anyway. Instead she just felt numb. Hollowed out. Lauren had left this morning, from what she heard.

"Hello."

And apparently she'd heard wrong. Lauren stood there, still with the walking stick she'd been using, staring at Bo steadily. "You're here," Bo said idiotically, staring right back at her. Lauren was in black – had she seen her in that colour before? It made her look even paler than normal, and her hair look like spun gold.

"Yes," Lauren said. "I think I needed… I think I need to see it. To get a real goodbye, this time."

"Right," Bo snorted. "Because you're the one who deserves a real goodbye." She immediately felt childish and stupid.

"What?"

Bo changed tack, not wanting to fight. "I'm happy that you've found someone," she said, the words like gravel in her throat. "I mean, so long as you're sure she's not just using you. Because if dating your boss is difficult, I can only imagine that dating someone who owns you is -"

"Where on earth did you get the idea I'm dating Mia?" Lauren said, frustrated. She could feel tears beginning to start in her eyes. "Where do you get these ideas? Why do you always assume the worst of me? Mali. Callie. Mia. I can know women without being madly in love with them, you know. I lied when I didn't tell you about Nadia, I know that, but that was years ago. I lied about Mali too and that was wrong, but all I was doing was confirming your suspicions. I know I screw up a lot, but I'm not a bad person. I don't… I don't want to be a liar, and I hate that somehow I always end up being dishonest to you."

"Really?" Bo said, only just managing to avoid spitting the word. "How about you be honest then. How about you be honest with me, right now. Why are you here? What do you want?"

"I don't know," Lauren said, her eyes filling up with tears. She tried to blink them away but it was useless. She gave in. "Actually, no, I do know. And it's the wrong time and the wrong place and I shouldn't be doing this and it's so arrogant of me, but this is what I want. I want to tell you that you made a mistake. I want to tell you that sixty-eight years ago you chose Dyson and you shouldn't have chosen Dyson. You should have chosen me. You made a mistake." It sounded bald, outrageous even, Lauren thought. But she wanted closure and she was damn well going to get closure.

"I know that," Bo's eyes filled with tears too. This was what she wanted, Lauren here, fighting for her, but suddenly it just made her feel worse. Because Dyson was out there, waiting, and that had always felt somehow unreal – she could see now that it had always felt like a high school romance. The cheerleader dating the jock, to be precise. More like a movie than reality. She'd even managed to fit Lauren into it – the cheerleader choosing between jock and nerd, the staple of every eighties movie. Bo thrived on drama and angst and hard choices, but they had always seemed vague and unreal, more a dramatic story than reality. But she could see reality in Lauren's eyes – real love, real passion, nothing adolescent about it. Lauren had finally completely dropped her cool façade and it broke Bo's heart to see exactly how much damage she'd been doing. Exactly how much love and pain Lauren felt. It broke through Bo's walls, her defences, all the little games she'd never been able to stop herself playing. "I know that I made a mistake, and I tried to make it right, and you're the one who wouldn't let me make it right."

"When? When did you try to make it right?" Lauren was sobbing openly by now. "When you didn't come after me? When you never looked for me? When you never even emailed me? You had years to make it right, Bo, so don't you stand there and tell me I didn't _let you _make it right. It was never my choice to let you."

"You chose. You chose when you left. You knew I loved you, you knew I wanted you, and you left anyway!"

"How was I supposed to know when you never told me? I gave you so many chances. I love you… all, so much," Lauren mocked, dashing a tear away with the back of her hand. "That's what you said. You couldn't say it. You could never say it."

"I said it when I saw you lying on the floor, cold as ice, dead!" Bo nearly shouted. "I said it as I shook you, as I begged you to stay, to be there, to come back to me…"

"How convenient, saying it when I couldn't hear you," Lauren said. "You never bothered to say it to me once when I could."

"What, having it passed through Trick wasn't romantic enough to convince you to stay?" Bo said. "I'm sorry I couldn't come and beg you to be with me myself, but I was busy being too weak to move from saving your life!"

Lauren hesitated, just staring at Bo. Then she said, very softly, "Bo. What are you talking about? What did you ask Trick to pass on?"

For a second Bo thought it was a joke, a taunt. But that wasn't Lauren's style at all. "That I loved you. And I was sorry. And that I would break up with Dyson and be with you. It wasn't a joke or a freak-out or because you nearly died, either. I meant it, Lauren. I meant it and _you just left_."

"Trick never told me that," Lauren met Bo's eyes squarely, tears still running down her face. "I swear. He never told me any of that. Well, maybe that you loved me, but that was all. And he said it sort of like it was you all… like you all loved me and would all miss me, something like that. Like a general statement."

"Oh," Bo said, suddenly understanding what Trick had been trying to tell her but backing down from all week. "_Oh_. Oh, God." She pulled herself together. "But that doesn't solve everything, Lauren. It doesn't change the fact that you left."

"I had to leave," Lauren said. "You know I had to. A human with Fae powers? I didn't have anything approaching an alibi then, it was decades before I met Mia and she had the power and contacts to set one up. They would have killed us both if I had stayed."

"But you could have said goodbye," Bo had probably wrecked her make-up entirely by now but she still made no move to staunch the tears. "You could have come and said goodbye, you could have phoned, god, you could even have left a note. Anything."

"But I did," Lauren said, hardly able to believe it. "I did leave a note. Didn't you check my apartment?"

"I did, we all did," Bo said, also disbelieving. "There was nothing there except the necklace, your old necklace."

"I left a note. I swear on my life, I left you a note. With an email address so you could contact me if you needed me."

"What did it say? What did the note say?" For some reason it was very important.

Lauren remembered. "That I loved you. That I wanted you to be happy. That I would miss you. That I'd remember you. Something like that. And with the email address, my email address so you could contact me anytime. I checked that address for years… I swear, " she said again, "I left a note. I left it in the apartment. Under the pillow that I put the necklace on."

Bo's mind was in a whirl, tangled and confused. A note. There had been a note. What could have happened to it? But then she remembered Dyson, holding up the necklace, saying it must be Lauren's message. Comprehension bloomed.

A picture of Dyson appeared in her mind, as he was now. He would be out there, waiting nervously for the music to start. To walk towards her and begin the rest of their lives. Handsomer than ever in a suit, his hair perfectly done, surrounded by his friends. Waiting for the woman he loved more than anything.

It had always been a joke, a lie to say she didn't trust Lauren. It was just another wall, she suddenly saw. She was just too scared to throw herself into something real, something that she actually did believe could last thousands of years. Because for so long to Bo relationships had never lasted further than that one night, she was scared that she couldn't make them last longer. Every relationship was a drama starring Bo, but it was a short drama, with a different love interest every week. She'd never let herself get attached, because she knew that anyone she cared about would die by her own hand. Subconsciously, she still believed that – that was why she stuck to infatuations instead of love, Dyson instead of Lauren. Until she'd found out she was Fae she'd never had anything last, and she hadn't been able to believe she could make something last.

Even with Dyson as proof she could have a longer relationship without messing up – but then, it wasn't proof, because she suddenly saw she was hurting him too. Had been hurting him, for years probably, with her disinterest and distractedness. She had been afraid she would do the same to Lauren, end up hurting her. She was scared of screwing up, hurting Lauren, cheating on her, even draining her maybe. She was scared of not being good enough to compete if another Nadia showed up someday – another normal person, who could love Lauren without constantly hurting her. Right now, at this exact moment, she couldn't imagine herself ever cheating on Lauren or draining her or ever deliberately hurting her in any way, but she had before. What if someday she let her fear, her childishness, her impulsiveness harm Lauren again? She'd fought for years to claim that she was Bo, not just a succubus, a person. She was scared of finding out that that wasn't true, or worse, that Bo the person was worse than Bo the succubus.

It had never, ever been Lauren Bo didn't trust. Because she knew that even when Lauren lied, when she withheld the truth, it was always because she thought she was doing what was best for Bo. Bo trusted Lauren absolutely. The person she didn't trust was herself.

"I came looking," Bo said abruptly. "I looked for a year, but then I saw the pictures of you with Callie, and I thought you were happy. I thought I was being unselfish, letting you be happy, not showing up there and trying to win you back."

"You should have come," Lauren said softly. "God, Bo, I'd have been so happy."

"So would I," Bo said. "I missed you. More than anything. I loved you. I still do. I'm so sorry, Lauren. So sorry. For everything." She suddenly thought of Dyson again. Standing there, waiting for her. The love of his life. He had been with her sixty-eight years, watching her love someone else more than she loved him, and knowing that person loved her back. She couldn't even begin to understand what he'd been thinking, what could have prompted that behaviour. Was it true love, or possessiveness? If she didn't walk down that aisle today, what would be hurt the most? His heart or his pride?

As if on cue, a knock sounded against one of the trees the small dressing room was made up of. "Bo?" Trick's voice came through the cloth, sounding worried and proud and tearful all at once. "It's time."

Bo stared at Lauren. "I have to go," she said, her voice hollow.

"No, please," Lauren said desperately. "Don't."

"I have to." Bo pulled Lauren to her and kissed her, hard, before tugging away. She hated to do it, but this was something she had to do. There really was no choice.

Lauren grabbed onto Bo's hand, not letting it go. With her other hand she leant more heavily on the walking stick, as if it was the only thing holding her up. "Just tell me one thing," she said. "One last thing." Tears were soaking her shirt, coming in an apparently unending stream, leaving her eyes puffy and red. "A night, a night seven years after I left, I stood outside your window. I thought you looked at me, straight at me. Did you see me?"

Bo managed a smile. "See you? Lauren, I saw you. I saw you everywhere. In every car, on every street. Out of the corner of my eye, in my reflection in the mirror, in every fucking blonde woman who walked by. You were like my personal ghost. I remember looking out the window and seeing you, but the only difference was it seemed a bit clearer that night… I saw you every night out that window. How was I supposed to know that that time it was real?" She pulled her hand away.

And Lauren had to be content with that. Because then Bo was gone.

* * *

**Don't get cranky with me. You knew from the prologue there was going to be a wedding. So no flames, please. This is not the end…**


	17. Chapter 16

CHAPTER 16

Bo could still feel herself crying as she walked down the aisle. She was perfectly on time – there were two lanes at the wedding, because of the three different groups they'd invited, and Dyson was moving down the other aisle at exactly the same speed. Since they'd been too busy for all the rehearsals, it was actually quite amazing they were doing it right. It could have ended so badly, they could have crashed or arrived late or looked silly. But instead they were doing it perfectly. It was all... perfect.

She could see Lauren out of the corner of her eye. No one else would have noticed, Lauren was so quiet and good at staying hidden in plain view, but the brightness of her aura was like a flag to Bo. She had followed Bo out and then hidden under a tree to watch. Even from here, Bo thought she could hear Lauren's sobs. Seemed like Bo had screwed up yet again.

Bo turned her head so she could meet Lauren's eyes, trying to comfort her without words. When that had no effect she mouthed the phrase _I am doing this because of you_. All it did was make Lauren cry harder. Well, shit. That had been exactly the opposite of what Bo had intended. Maybe she hadn't communicated herself well enough - it wouldn't be the first time, certainly. Bo would make sure she was okay after this. She knew Lauren would understand that this was something she had to do, even if it was stupid and hurtful.

When the priest started speaking Bo forced her eyes to meet Dyson's. He mouthed words as well – in this case, _are you okay? _Bo didn't nod or shake her head, she just stared at him. She'd known him for such a long time. She'd loved him for such a long time, and even though many people seemed to think the love she had for him wasn't sufficient, Bo really did believe that they could have ended up happily married. Or at least as happily married as most people were. It was odd to look at him - at his face, so familiar to her - and have it suddenly be unfamiliar. It was like the ground had wrenched away from her feet. Everything was twisted, sideways, strange.

Bo waited for the right time, the right words. She listened to the vicar's introduction, his speech about the reasons for marriage, the odd hymns that were sung – none of which were known by all three groups. Actually, the human ones probably were known by everyone, but Bo guessed many of the Fae were too anti-human to sing with them. If Dyson was in the audience, he probably would curl his lip at the thought of singing along.

Ah. Here the words were.

"But first I am required to ask anyone present who knows a reason why these persons may not lawfully marry, to declare it now…"

"I do," Bo said, very clearly. She couldn't stop herself from looking out at Lauren again. A smile came to her face, seeing that Lauren had finally stopped weeping and was regarding her with something approaching amazement. She hadn't meant to smile. It just happened.

"No, dear, your part comes later -" the priest began to say.

"I have a reason we may not marry," Bo said. She'd left convention now. She'd left the path of least resistance, gone off the edges of the map. She was flying free into the void, unstoppable. Dyson looked stunned. He also looked hurt, and some part of her hated that she was doing this to him, but it was something she had to do. He'd lied and she'd lied and maybe it was time to tell the truth. And it should have been done in private, nicely, but right now it felt like she was propelled by something outside herself. She wanted to drag the truth into the light. She wanted it to be seen by all. She faced Dyson head on. "It's not lawful. It's just personal. You lied to me."

There were confused mutterings in the crowd, and the priest looked pole-axed – Bo was quite sure this was the first time this had ever happened to him. Dyson and Bo, however, ignored them both.

"Bo, stop it," Dyson said. "I don't know what you're -"

"Lauren left a note. And you took it. Where is it, Dyson? In a case, in a storage place? Did you hide it in our home? Has it been in our filing cabinet there for sixty-eight years while I've missed her and mourned her and loved her?"

"I burned it," Dyson said tightly. He drew himself up, looking wounded. "And you don't love her, Bo. You just think you do. She's human, she's not worthy of you. I _know_ you."

"But apparently I don't know you," Bo said softly. The muttering guests were now talking loudly. Trick had gone white. Hale was keeping quiet, just looking from Bo to Dyson like a spectator at a tennis match, but his mouth was set in a pale tense line. "That woman, that picture you showed me. The skeleton. Did you know it wasn't Lauren? Did you tell me she was dead and know you were lying to me?"

Dyson met her eyes, which showed no rage or passion. They were just cool, as if she was listening to an underling's report. He wasn't sure he'd ever seen Bo so emotionless, despite the tears on her face and her strange smile. It was like a rainbow wheel spinning fast enough that it turned white - Bo had so many emotions that right now, she had reached the centre point, where there was only calmness and necessity. "No," he said honestly. "I thought that was her."

"I would have married you," Bo said, almost to herself. "I would have married you even though I love Lauren, because a part of me does love you, and we've spent seventy years together. You would have been my husband." The thought was absurd. But the, this was absurd, too. It was hurtful, what she was doing to him, embarrassing - but part of her revelled in that. He'd lied to her and manipulated her. He'd hurt Lauren - and while Bo knew that she'd hurt Lauren more, somehow this was her first step in making it up to Lauren. Choosing Lauren as publicly as she'd once chosen Dyson.

"I can still be your husband. Please, Bo. You were my mate and I had to do what I could to keep you. One small white lie, so many years ago – it hardly matters anymore. You say you love Lauren, and I can forgive that," Dyson said desperately. "Surely you can forgive me one stupid mistake. You've made mistakes before, and I forgive them."

"I've made a lot of mistakes," Bo replied. She thought about how she'd cheated on him with Lauren – emotionally when Lauren wasn't even there, and physically when she was. Yes, her crimes were probably much worse than his small white lie, though in all honesty Bo was more concerned with her crimes towards Lauren than her ones towards the wolf right now. And if she could forgive Trick for the same lie – but the fact was, Trick had lied for unselfish reasons, whatever he thought. He had lied because he thought it would help Bo be happy, she was sure of that, even though she didn't know his exact reasons. And Bo had lied about her feelings for Lauren to make Dyson happy, because she didn't want to hurt him. But Dyson hadn't lied to make Bo happy, and he certainly hadn't been trying to make Lauren happy. He'd lied to make himself happy. He'd lied to keep Bo – to hold onto what he had, like a man hiding jewelry under his mattress. But Bo wasn't a possession.

"See? There you go. We can forgive _each other_, Bo. Move on together."

"I've made a lot of mistakes," Bo could feel herself start to sob again. "I haven't always been a good person. Neither of us have. Maybe we deserve each other."

Dyson nodded, starting to look more assured.

"But over there is a woman I honestly think has always been a good person," Bo continued. "A _worthy _person." She spat his own word back at him. She couldn't believe that anyone could think Lauren wasn't worthy of her. "And what she deserves is to be happy. For some stupid reason, she thinks I can make her happy. I deserve you, Dyson. But I want her. And I love her. She is ten times the person either of us is. And you threw her note away like trash because of selfish, prejudiced reasons. I can forgive you lying to me. I can forgive you hurting me, because God knows I've done worse. But what you did to her? How you hurt her? Right now I'm not finding that forgivable."

She studied him, trying to understand him and herself and maybe even the world. It was strange to think she could have been his wife. She could see clearly now that it never would have worked. Already Bo felt lighter and freer.

It was unbelievable to her, what Dyson had done. Even if it made her a hypocrite, right now she considered it unforgivable. And the reason for that was really because Lauren was human – if it hadn't been for a one in a million chance, Lauren would be dead of old age right now. The idea of Lauren spending the rest of a long lonely life thinking that her soulmate couldn't even be bothered to send her a fucking email was worse then the idea of her dying on the floor of her lab sixty-eight years ago. And Bo would have gone through the rest of her much-longer life unable to ever fully put the memory of Lauren behind her. Dyson could have condemned them both to a kind of constant pain, a wound that was never able to heal. He'd never paused, never even considered telling her the truth. He'd stood there in front of Bo and told her about the skeleton of a woman that could have been Lauren, and never even mentioned that with one email he could clear up the confusion and finally put the matter to rest.

And Bo hadn't questioned enough, pushed hard enough to find out the truth. She hadn't looked. She'd never followed her heart. She'd been a coward. She'd hurt Lauren over and over again, but the woman was still standing over there, waiting for her, loving her. It beggared belief. It was amazing. The truly magical thing about Lauren wasn't that she physically glowed. The magical thing about Lauren was that she still loved Bo after every shitty thing Bo had said and done.

Bo promised herself that if they had eternity, she was going to spend it doing everything she could to be worthy of Lauren. Elva said you could build trust? Then Bo would build Lauren's trust in her. She wouldn't let her down. She would never leave her, she'd do her best to never hurt her, and she would make sure Lauren got anything she ever wanted. She'd dedicate herself to making Lauren happy.

And she was damn sure Lauren would dedicate herself to making Bo happy as well. Not that she needed to do much to make Bo happy - just wearing that smile, that bright, almost disbelieving smile was more than enough. God, just having her nearby was enough.

"Goodbye, Dyson," she finished. "I'm sorry. I'm really, honest-to-God sorry for everything I've done. I'm even sorry that I can't forgive you. But mostly, right now? I'm sorry that I lost seventy years with Lauren through being an idiot. So goodbye, and good luck."

She turned and walked away, not looking back. This wasn't a love triangle any more, it wasn't a game, it wasn't denial. It was far more than that. She could feel his stare burning into the back of her neck, but her gaze was fixed on Lauren. The guests were already starting to stand, starting to speak, wondering what to do. As she passed Trick she squeezed his shoulder, letting him know without words that she would forgive him, in time. Right now, for the look of complete happiness on Lauren's face, she thought she could forgive a lot of things.

X_X_X_X

Miles away, the Norn smiled. It was a nasty smile, but also, strangely, a peaceful one. She had lived a very long life and made a lot of deals, and this was the only one that the other person hadn't kept to. It had nagged at her for years and years, and now it didn't have to anymore.

Which was good news, since she was very old, and very, very tired. She'd been fighting death for years now. But now the debt was settled – the wolf had lost what he had stolen from her. She couldn't foresee where his life would go, what would happen to him now, but at least he wasn't profiting from his treachery anymore. The deal was done. It was all settled. And all it had taken was a little poison, and a fake prophecy delivered through a patsy. The death of that one useless Fae she discounted completely, considering it barely worth anything. Perhaps they would search for the killer, still, but even if they traced it to her there would be nothing left to find and punish. Now it was over.

Now, she could die peacefully.

X_X_X_X

Lauren drove, even thought she was still shaky on her feet. Bo changed out of her dress in the back and into her favorite leather outfit. Neither of them spoke. However, when Bo clambered back into the front seat, Lauren took her hand off the wheel and took hold of Bo's. They drove on like that for mile after mile, holding hands. Bo found herself sneaking look after look at Lauren. Eventually she stopped bothering to pretend she wasn't looking and just stared at her, tracing the elegant line of her throat, with it's nervous pulse; the beautiful curve of her lips; the pure warm brown of her gorgeous eyes. She felt unbelievably lucky and happy.

After a while Lauren's aura started to heat up from the feeling of Bo's stare, and Lauren started to glance back at her. At the first motel she saw she pulled over, saying simply, "I can't keep my eyes on the road. If we don't stop, we're going to crash."

The motel was a little cheap, and completely unromantic, but neither of them noticed. They wouldn't have noticed if it was a rent-by-the-hour fleapit or a palace right then, to be honest. And then, unable to wait any longer, and unwilling to spoil the moment with words, they tumbled into bed together.

No one needed to take charge, or to take the lead. It was like they moved together. Lauren wondered if Bo was reading her aura. Bo wondered if the chi power had also made Lauren psychic somehow. They dived into the kiss together at the same moment, lying side-by-side on a worn mattress in the off-white room.

Lauren let all self-control go the moment Bo's lips touched hers. Perhaps it should have been soft and sweet, but Bo was a succubus, and Lauren had been denying her desires for far too long – it soon became fast and furious instead. Bo pulled off Lauren's pants easily, and tugged her top upwards a little, reveling in the feel of silken skin beneath her hands. She wanted it to last forever but she also wanted it all, right away. Lauren's lips moved off Bo's down to the sweet spot on her neck that always turned Bo into a molten, writhing wanton. She then moved her lips even further down, pressing a kiss to the skin just above the waistband of Bo's leather pants. Then, ignoring the pressure of Bo's grasping hands, she moved upwards, raising Bo's top an inch at a time and pressing kisses to each new area of skin bared. Bo dug her nails helplessly into Lauren's back, whimpering and trying to crush her leather-clad crotch against the soft smoothness of Lauren's leg.

When she finally raised it above Bo's breasts, leaving them bare, Lauren couldn't suppress a moan. She'd always loved Bo's breasts. Now she took her chance to enjoy them thoroughly – exploring them, caressing them, tasting them thoroughly. She revisited all the areas that made Bo gasp and curl into her, and found some new ones as well. Bo arched against her, mewed, wordlessly begging for more – but when Lauren removed Bo's pants and went to thrust her fingers inside her and finish the other woman off, Bo's stopped her, saying gutturally, "No, together."

She proceeded to push Lauren to a state of mute desperation. She teased her every bit as thoroughly as Lauren had teased her, kissing and touching her all over except the place where they both needed it the most. She ran her fingers along the muscles in Lauren's thighs, licked her way up the small of her back, laved her navel softly, grazed her nipples with her teeth. Lauren retaliated by sucking at the pulse point in Bo's neck, scraping down Bo's inner thigh with her nails, and pushing her body as close to Bo's as she could make it.

When neither of them could take the sensual torture anymore, they pressed against each other, moving against each other. It wasn't unemotional and ordered, but a hot, frenzied attempt to become as close as physically possible. They pushed against each other, desperately moving, desperately seeking, yearning for more, and more, and more. They didn't hear the noise of bedsprings but of moans, and gasps, and whimpered pleas, a background music to the most intense sensations either had ever experienced. Together they moved faster, harder, losing whatever control they had as they neared the peak, their hands travelling frantically as if they wanted to be touching each other everywhere at once. Their lips travelled too as they pressed hot, open-mouthed kisses against everywhere on the other woman they could reach, but in the very last moment before they exploded into white hot pleasure Bo's lips found Lauren's.

Bo thought she drained more then ever before as she forced them over the edge, but Lauren thought that she gave chi instead of taking it, because that's what it felt like. For both of them it felt like ecstasy exploding over every inch of their skin, as well as zinging inside their blood; liquid heat burning through them. It seemed endless yet at the same time over too fast as they surged against each other.

When it was over they collapsed against each other, sweaty and gasping. Lauren touched her hand to Bo's cheek, cupping it gently. Bo thought that words would spoil the moment, but she couldn't stop herself from saying it anyway. "I love you."

"I know," Lauren dropped a kiss on Bo's swollen lips. She felt like she would never stop smiling. "I love you too."

The words were a cliché, an overused statement – Bo had thought so for a long time. It was something she said to Dyson to shut him up or as a habit, and he said to her to get her to do something. It had become a meaningless phrase to Bo, a tool to use rather than an actual emotion. But somehow, hearing them from Lauren, hearing them from herself to Lauren, redeemed them. It made the words new and real again. It gave them substance and beauty.

Then the wordlessness ended, and the air filled up with words. It was like both had a million things they needed to say, and a million things they wanted to hear. They told stories and facts and feelings and things that didn't matter at all, but had to be said anyway. Everything was funny and deep and meaningful and special. They couldn't stop talking.

Lauren talked about her years away. She told about the mistakes she'd made, the way she'd martyred herself for no reason by never contacting Bo, the way she'd let her pride get in the way, the way she'd both undervalued and overvalued herself. She told Bo about how she'd felt when she realised she wasn't ageing. She described her ascetic life, the work she'd done, the shame she'd felt being unable to move on, the fear and terrible hope she'd felt when she'd seen Bo again. She didn't stop there, either: she told about the near misses she'd had with Fae, amazing events that she'd been a part of, the pain of having to find out things about her family from a distance so as not to endanger them, the horror of watching other people age, and even Mia's inventive seduction attempts.

Bo explained everything. She explained how scared she had been, how juvenile, how she'd known she was screwing everything up but hadn't been able to stop herself. She called herself an idiot for staying with Dyson for so long. She excused nothing. She would have blamed herself for everything, but Lauren wouldn't let her. Bo also told her about other things - Kenzi's wild family, Hale's parade of insane girlfriends who all hoped to join the Zamora clan, the memorial Lauren had in the park, the difficulty of knowing Kenzi was ageing and dying and not being able to do anything about it, and even the craziest of the cases that had come her way over the years.

Funny or tragic, beautiful or horrifying, hurtful or happy, they poured out everything they could think of to say.

Whenever they paused they found themselves kissing again, making love to each other again until they were exhausted. Then they would talk again, until their throats were sore and scratchy. Hours and hours passed with the world unheeded and to them unnecessary. It was the honeymoon Bo could never have had with Dyson, the one she would never have wanted with him. Bo felt like she'd never been so close to another person in her whole life, never needed them as deeply or loved them as much.

Morning found them wrapped in each other's arms, still as close as they could be. It was now the day after Bo's wedding, but she wasn't married.

Which wasn't to say she never got married...

* * *

**Congratulations to Romangst for figuring out where I was going with that before anyone else. And an honourable mention to Spyklv for making me burst out laughing and spit milk all over myself when she called Bo a "psychoanalyst's wet dream" – true in more ways than one lol.**

**Anyway. Just an epilogue left now. Like most epilogues, it will be pure fluff, so avoid if you have diabetes. But then, if you have, I probably just killed you with the last thousand words, so we're good. Sorry the angst took an abrupt turn into happiness, but I suspect most of you won't be too disappointed.**

**Thanks for all the responses. Best readers ever :)**


	18. Epilogue

Even to a watcher unfamiliar with the people involved, it would have seemed like an amazing wedding.

It wasn't big. There were probably no more than ten people in the tiny chapel, nearly all of whom looked incredibly happy. They were wearing bright colors and before the wedding party turned up they talked enthusiastically amongst themselves. There was no sign of unrest or argument, which was surprising if you knew that this wedding was the result of nearly twenty years of struggle. Because it was – or had been, at least – a banned wedding, a wedding that went against the most important of the laws the Fae had. It had taken two decades of veiled threats towards various elders by the grandfather of one of the brides, two decades of veiled blackmail by the best man, two decades of rather-less-veiled manipulations by the dark-skinned succubus in the front row, and the political support of hundreds of Fae. A small war had been fought, and there had been real casualties as well as political ones.

Though it was immediately apparent, on viewing the glowing faces of the brides, that the wedding would have eventually occurred even if it had been forbidden forever. Neither could look away from the other or stop smiling. They glowed with joy. Their happiness seemed addictive. Everyone around, even people just walking on the street outside, found that they were smiling too. Only one person seemed slightly less happy, sitting in the back row. He still managed a nod towards the blonde bride, though, which she regally returned. It was apparent that they were cordial, but not close, determined to get along for the sake of the people they both loved. Besides that, she was too happy today to mind what he thought or did.

The tiny dark-haired flower girl seemed every bit as happy as her parents, as well as very energetic. For a while before the ceremony her great-grandfather lost track of her when she managed to sneak out into the street, where she stopped strangers to inform them proudly that her mommies were getting married today. She was a stunningly beautiful little imp, every bit as lovely as the women who'd given birth to her, so that the strangers were charmed. There was no sign of whoever had provided the other half of her genes in her appearance, and from the measured cleverness of her words, it was apparent that nurture was more important than nature in her case. Eventually her great-grandfather dragged her back inside. He told the best man in an undertone that she was every bit as hyperactive and trouble-prone as the woman she was named after, and wondered if anyone had foolishly given her sugar. The best man smiled shiftily and tried to look innocent as he hid an empty packet of jelly beans in his coat pocket. He then got distracted when the succubus in the front row smirked at him and gave him a wink that suggested she might be open to company later that night, if he was so inclined. He couldn't stop a cocky smile from spreading over his face in response, and he gave a happy little whistle. A fire Fae in the second row glared at him, wordlessly reminding him he was supposed to be doing his best man duties instead of flirting. Her expression seemed to indicate that he shouldn't be flirting at all, and he hastily looked away from both of them.

The women had written their own vows, which were disgustingly sappy. One of the brides, the dark-haired one, almost thought she could hear someone pretending to gag, but when she looked for the source of the noise there was no one there. She continued to believe she'd heard it anyway, absolutely sure in her own heart that everyone she loved was there, spirit or not. After all, what kind of bridesmaid would skip the wedding, dead or not?

Both of the brides were absolutely stunning. They seemed young, and indeed they were, but they'd been young for a very long time. Nearly a century, in fact. And they fully planned to continue for many more centuries, spending the rest of their lives laughing, and loving, and making the world a better place. Though at this particular moment they both thought the world was perfect anyway, so it wouldn't take much work.

When the wedding was over they went to a bar, where it seemed like the couple were accepting congratulations all night. After a while the child dropped off to sleep and had to be taken home, where her great-grandfather was coming to stay in a few hours, since he was going to babysit her during the honeymoon. She'd been looking forward to it for months. Her mothers tucked her in, and watched her deep breathing, love in their eyes.

"I hope it's like this for the rest of our lives," the blonde said quietly, her voice filled with joy, watching the child sleep.

"I don't know," the brunette appeared to give this consideration. "I think we can make it better."

The blonde arched her eyebrow. "Oh?"

"Mmm. I think I'm unhappy with the current state of our marriage."

"State?"

"Unconsummated. I think that's just wrong. What kind of succubus has a sexless marriage?" She raised an eyebrow, smirking. "Our flight doesn't leave for three hours…" The brunette wheedled, then pulled the blonde into their room and kissed her deeply, making sure the door was carefully closed. She rejoiced to think they had several weeks now where they wouldn't have to be at all quiet, or spend time doing anything besides this.

"God, I love you," the blonde gasped as her new wife's hands explored her body.

"_Oh… _Lauren…"

"Yes?"

"Mmm… trust me… The feeling's _completely _mutual."

The End

* * *

**I know. Saccharine. Somehow whenever I write something, it always ends up in a gooey, happy place. I'm a not-very-closeted romantic.**

**Anyway: brief thanks and even briefer information.**

**Thanks to the creators of Lost Girl, because (and I know this is news to all of you) I don't actually own this show. (Gasp! Horror!) However, I will take away my thanks if they go back to Dyson being the main love interest like they did in Season 1. And then I will go to Canada and egg people's houses. Not necessarily the people who made the show, because, you know, it would be really hard to find them. So probably just random people's houses. But I will yell about why I'm angry, at least until I get arrested. Because that'll show them. This is my evil plan. (ineffective cackle)**

**Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Especially Kravn. You guys were all great readers, though, every bit as Dyson-disliking and Doccubus-loving as me, and willing to put up with my questionable writing and see where the hell I was coming from. Thanks for sitting through the whole thing - I hope the ending didn't disappoint.**

**If there's ever a sequel - which is possible but not likely - it will probably fit in between the story and the epilogue. I think there's a lot to tell there. But I make no promises, because I am about to be pretty busy.**

**Anyway, that's it. Fingers crossed for the new season - and Team Doccubus, forever!**


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